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CALIFORNIA 



A HISTORY OF UPPER AND LOWER CALIFORNIA 


This Book 


ts one of a limited edition of two hundred and fifty 
copies, the impressions being taken upon hand-set type , 
which was immediately distributed. This copy is 

No. 

Signed by the publisher 


CALIFORNIA 


A 

HISTORY of UPPER & LOWER CALIFORNIA 

From THEIR FIRST DISCOVERY to the PRESENT TIME 


Comprising 

An ACCOUNT of the CLIMATE, SOIL, NATURAL 
PRODUCTIONS, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE 

&c. 

A FULL VIEW of 

THE MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 

and Condition of the 
Free Gf Domesticated 

INDIANS 


With an glppenbix relating to 

STEAM-NAVIGATION IN THE PACIFIC 

Mustrateb 

With a New Map, Plans of the Harbors 
and Numerous Engravings 


By 

ALEXANDER FORBES, ESQ. 


l&eprintfb 

Page for Page, and approximately Line for Line, from the Original Edition 
Published by SMITH, ELDER & CO., London, 1819, and to Which is Added 


New INDEX 


©mi jfrantisco, California 

THOMAS C. RUSSELL 

1734 Nineteenth Avenue 


1919 



Copyright, 1919 
By Thomas C. Russell 


.r(*z 



FEB -7 1919 


Printed by Thomas C. Russell, at 1734 Nineteenth Avenue 
San Francisco, California, United States of America 


©CI.A5 12275 



PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD 

TO THE REPRINT EDITION 


I speak to the reader-, let the writer listen 
Oriental Proverb (adapted) 


The uppermost thought in the mind of the publisher, in printing this 
edition, was to adhere faithfully to the text of the original, as well as 
to maintain a line-for-line and page-for-page plan. Hence the text 
was not read before composition for the purpose of correcting errors. 
A hasty, superficial examination, however, was made, in order that 
some degree of accuracy and uniformity might be established for the 
spelling of proper names. This is no trifling matter, the best-printed 
works demonstrating that neither absolute accuracy nor uniformity in 
this respect is maintained, or is even attainable; and who shall decide 
when doctors disagree ? 

The experience of a lifetime spent among printers, publishers, and 
authors has proven that the author’s MS. is entitled to respect before 
a change is made at the hands of the printer. Such is indeed the 
custom in all good book-printing houses, and such custom should also 
obtain in the reprinting of a book. Hence few verbal changes were 
made in reprinting this work, and only a few bracketed corrections 
after a gross error, these latter being inserted interlinearly sometimes. 
Much more, along these lines, could have been done with propriety, 
and perhaps should have been done; hence it must not be presumed 
that many questionable matters were passed unnoticed. Had the 
original MS., instead of the printed book, been used as “copy,” no 
such merciful consideration would have been shown. 

The typographical expression of the work is quite as faulty as the 
text and style of the author; and although there are, here and there 
throughout the work, evidences in plenty of stately, legitimate book- 
composition, yet the crudities of the raw, undisciplined printer prevail, 
manifested in inaccurate syllabication, over-capitalization, punctuation 
showing not the slightest conception of the text, and in other ways. 
These, if not reformed altogether, are reformed indifferently, at least, 
in the reprinting. 

Let us consider, first, Spanish words, phrases, and nomenclature. 
Forbes is not so great an offender as many present-day writers in the 


PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD 


6a 

matter of italicizing Spanish words unnecessarily, but, like these writers, 
he is given to translation, and, what is worse, to half-translation. As, 

San Juan Baptista (39) San Juan Bautista 

Our Lady de los Dolores (109) Nuestra Senora de los Dolores 

Our Lady of the Regia (119) Nuestra Senora de la Regia 

St. John Capistran (126) San Juan Capistrano 

If it is proper to translate the Spanish “Nuestra Senora” etc. into the 
English“ Our Lady” etc., why not translate “ Dolores” and “Regia” 
also ? Both are translatable. But why destroy the charm of the ori¬ 
ginal Spanish ? The opinion of the reader without understanding is 
not worthy of consideration. Of a different nature is the clipped form 
of the mission name, as “ Dolores,” “ San Juan,” etc.; but clipping is 
sometimes mutilation, as “ San Borja” for “ San Francisco de Borja” 
(vide post, p. 88). 

A common and very reprehensible practice, but of which Forbes 
cannot be accused, is that of inserting a comma in the names of the 
missions, as in “San Juan, Bautista.” This is not Spanish usage, nor 
is there any usage in English style that fits the case. The many titles 
of the Spanish monarch, printed in full, would occupy many lines, yet 
not a comma, nor other mark of punctuation, is used to set off one 
title from another. The Spanish idea is evident to a thinking person. 
The offense noted is aggravated by the omission of the graphic accent 
and the substitution of a French twist to a Spanish word, in the name 
of a mission, as in “San Fernando, Rey de Espagna,’ ’ which, in turn, is 
juggled into “San Fernando, Rey de Espagna.” The Spanish of all 
this is, simply, “San Fernando Rey de Espana.” 

In this reprint edition, the lists of missions given in statistical matter 
afforded an opportunity to print the names of the Franciscan missions 
accurately (see pp. 201, 202, 259-260), while the index afforded the 
further opportunity of adding an alternative appellation, as in the case 
of the missions of San Carlos and San Francisco. Forbes, in the text, 
did not mention each and every mission. 

Spanish usage is violated also by Forbes in the printing of personal 
names. Thus on page 7, the name of Bezerra de Mendoza is clipped 
down to “Mendoza,” and did not the immediate context make mani¬ 
fest the person meant, Hurtado de Mendoza, another explorer sent 
out previously by Cortes, might be inferred. In the instances follow¬ 
ing, the gross error, “Francis,” printed as a praenomen of Serra, is 
probably the result of a compositor’s attempt to “improve” upon his 
“copy.” The praenomens “Vicente” and “Luis” are not enough 
for the English reader, although good and approved Spanish usage. 


PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD 


7a 


(48) Guillem (Guillen), (79) Cobrillo, 
Viscayno (Cabrillo,Vizcaino), (84) Vin¬ 
cente Vilal, (VicenteVila), (92) Francis 
Junipero Serra, Pedro Foxes (Fr. 


[Fray] JunIpero Serra, Pedro Fages), 
(115) Aranza (Anza), (117) Artiago 
(Arteaga), (122) Father Vincente, Fa¬ 
ther Lewis (Vicente Fuster,Luis Jay me). 


Quotations from other authors are quite numerous in the original 
edition. The poet Southey suffered a little, and, in reprinting, a few 
crudities are smoothed out, but as Forbes, on page 222, seems to have 
purposely rearranged a few lines, no change is made. Vancouver was 
badly misquoted, and the original language is restored, as below, the 
italic indicating most of such restorations. But how could underwood 
that did not exist have any appearance ? 


their sides and summits exhibited a high 
degree of luxuriant fertility, interspersed 
with copses of various forms and magni¬ 
tude, and verdant open spaces enriched 
with stately fruit trees of of different 
descriptions. . . . the underwood, that 
had probably attained its early growth, 
had the appearance of having been cleared 
away, . . . which, with the lofty range 
of mountains [170] 


their sides and summits exhibited a high 
degree of luxuriant fertility, interspersed 
with copses of various forms and magni¬ 
tude, verdant open spaces, and enriched 
with stately forest trees of different 
descriptions. . . . the underwood, that 
had probably attended its early growth, 
had the appearance of having been cleared 
away, . . . which, with the range of lofty 
rugged mountains 


Beechey, on the other hand, is cited exactly by Forbes as to figures, 
signs, and words. Thus on page 165, the mean annual temperature 
of San Francisco is given as 53° 2'. This is inaccurate notation. The 
figure 2 here is a decimal. The ichthyologist, as well as the meteor¬ 


ologist, should have had his day in 

In the bay of Monterey we noticed the 
scomber colias and another kind of mack- 
arel, the torpedo and another species of 
raia, achimara, and swarms of small fish 
resembling the Sardinia. Muscles are 
found in considerable quantities. . . . 
Besides these shell fish, there were no- 
ticedafew patella, limpet, turbo, cardium, 
and mya shells, and among other lepas, 
a rare species of /. anotifera and a chiton 
{tunicatus ?). [179] 


court with Beechey. Thus: — 

In the Bay of Monterey we noticed the 
Scomber colias and another kind of mack¬ 
erel, the torpedo and another species of 
Raia, a Chimcera , and swarms of small 
fish resembling the sardine. Mussels are 
found in considerable quantities. . . . 
Besides these shell-fish, there were no¬ 
ticed a few Patella , limpet, Turbo, Car¬ 
dium, and Mya shells, and, among other 
Lepas, a rare species of Lepas anatifera, 
and a Chiton (tunicatus ?). 


Nor did Beechey have much respect for or knowledge of la lengua 
castellana. Note particularly the punctuation. 

The neophytes being thus arranged, the The neophytes being thus arranged, the 
speaker began: “ Santissima, Trinidada, speaker began, ‘ Santisima Trinidad,— 
Dios, Jesu Christo, Espiritu Santo”— Dios,JesuCristo[orJesucristo],Espiritu 
pausing between each name [217] Santo,’ pausing between each name 


PUBLISHER’S FOREWORD 


8 < 



Uniformity in matters orthographical was sought to be attained in 
reprinting, although many archaic and obsolete spellings are retained. 
American usage, it will be observed, prevails, however. One more 
example of changes made should suffice to show the necessity for 
typographical revision throughout the work. 

its government has been hitherto con- its government has been hitherto con¬ 
trolled by persons who have not put trolled by persons who have not put 
in practice not even the rudiments of an in practice even the rudiments of an 
enlightened policy [305] enlightened policy 


Incidental remarks are made, in this Foreword, to the typographical 
aberrations in other works. In mercy, their names are not mentioned. 
In few of them is there displayed the technical skill of the disciplined 
book-printer. A finished book can be printed only in a book-printing 
house, with its staff of experienced book-compositors, skilled proof¬ 
readers, and competent executives. Even here gross errors of many 
kinds escape the sharpest eyes and the keenest wits. The Riverside 
Press, of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has a reputation second to none 
for typographical accuracy, yet Royce’s California, in the handsome 
American Commonwealths series, issued from that press, is spotted 
with such errors as those following. 


Brooks seems to be a perfeecly trust¬ 
worthy observer. [289] 

The little one chose with ecstatic delight 
some tiny scent-bottles, which she called 
“baby-decanters.” [348] 

‘ ‘ Your letter, ’ ’ says the captain to the 
senator, “led me to expect some com¬ 


munication from him [Buch-/anan is the 
antecedent of him]," but I received noth¬ 
ing . ” The italics are as printed in the 
copy before me. [132] 

(14) Crespi (Crespi), (17) Rezanof 
(Rezanof, or Rezanoff), (23) Hijar (Hi- 
jar), (24) Guteirrez (Gutierrez). 


The error perfeecly ” was probably made in correcting, and escaped 
the reviser. By “ baby-decanter” a toy or small decanter is meant; 
hence the hyphen is improperly used. “ Buch-/anan” is an inaccurate 
division; the syllabication is, Bu-/chan-/an. The redundant quotation- 
marks preceding the phrase “ hut /” etc. may have been inserted in 
making an author’s change; such errors are generally corrected in the 
first reading, but may escape the reviser if not corrected in the type. 


It is too much to hope that this reprint edition is free from the many 
lapses to which type, with the innate perversity of all things inanimate, 
is prone, or that it is free from lapses traceable to other sources. The 
letterpress, — this term includes type-setting, proof-reading, and press- 
work, as well as the index-making, of this reprint is the result of 
the labor of one hand and mind. The reader who is familiar with the 
procedure in a well-regulated book-printing house will understand. 



ALEXANDER FORBES 

The AUTHOR of This WORK 


Bibliographers have little to say about the author of this History of 
California ; they confine their annotations almost exclusively to the 
work itself. The name Forbes appears quite frequently in California 
history, and this fact has led to much confusion as to the identity of 
the author. The publisher of this reprint edition is indebted to Mr. 
Milton J. Ferguson, the librarian of the California State Library at 
Sacramento, for a cameragraph copy of an article which appeared in 
the San Francisco Evening Bulletin of January 9, 1864, which clearly 
settles this matter, and at the same time unfolds much interesting, and 
what was at one time perplexing, detail. This article, so far as it 
relates to Forbes, is reprinted here without the slightest change. 

Made Their “Piles” before 1848 — Pacific Coast Notables 

Late papers from the East bring news of the death of two noted rich men, who 
made their “piles” from California long before the discovery of gold, and are 
intimately connected with the first developments of her commerce, and somewhat 
of her literature. 

The first of these is Alexander Forbes, one of the founders of the house of 
Barron, Forbes & Co., of Tepic, in Mexico, who died in the city of London in 
the early part of 1863. In California literature he is known as the author of 
A History of Upper and Lower California , from their first Discovery to the Present 
Time — comprising an account of the climate, soil, mission establishments, etc., 
published in an octavo volume at London, in 1839. Though without pretension 
or display of literary talent, Mr. Forbes gives in his work very useful and excellent 
information, and his map of the country which is the best of the time, lays down 
data entirely ignored by map-makers up even to 1846 — so slow did knowledge 
penetrate into book-makers’ heads, until their eyes were limned with the lustre of 
gold, or of the new era which California has opened to human progress. 

Mr. Forbes is said to have been largely engaged in mercantile' business in 
Buenos Ayres before 1825, about which period he became connected with Eustacio 
Barron, who had, during the wars of Napoleon in Spain, acted as officer in the 
British forces in the peninsula, opposed to the French Emperor, and who was 
appointed British Consul-General in the city of Mexico, about 1835, where he was 
universally esteemed and respected. He died in that city about 1857. The prin¬ 
cipal establishment of the new house was at Tepic, where for many years under 
the style of their well-known firm they have dispensed hospitality like magnificos, 
and carried on to the present time the most extensive commercial transactions of 
any mercantile concern on the Pacific coast of Mexico. This business, together 
with their manufactory of cotton fabrics near Tepic, realized immense profits, 
greatly augmented since 1853 from the operations growing out of the celebrated 

9 a 


10- 


FORBES: THE AUTHOR 


New Almaden mine, in Santa Clara county, the developments of which awakened 
only in 1863 the attention of the Spanish Government as affecting the demand of 
quicksilver from the old Almaden, which has been worked since the birth of Christ. 

During the California revolution of 1846, Gen. Jose Castro found his way to 
Tepic, and there sold to Alexander Forbes his share of the New Almaden mine. 
The sagacity of Forbes and his knowledge of the great value which would attach 
to a competitor of Old Almaden, induced him immediately after to hurry on his 
way to Alta California and verify by actual sight the extent of his “streak of luck ” 
— this windfall from the bag of fortune. When he arrived, he found the Ameri¬ 
cans in possession of this country, and being satisfied that Eolus had wafted his 
bark to one of the rich ports of Mercury, took possession of his vein of cinnabar; 
and all the first outlays between 1847 and 1854, were done under his immediate 
orders, either on the spot before July, 1848, or in Mexico afterwards, before his 
retirement to England, about 1856, on the dissolution of the old firm. 

Our California author was the brother of the eminent London physician, Sir 
John Forbes, lately deceased, among whose family he “willed” $250,000 and left 
also the valuable real property he died possessed of in England, his nephew, Alex¬ 
ander C. Forbes, being his principal legatee. Since his return to England, after 
thirty years spent in Spanish America, he resided on his estate of Whitechurch in 
Oxfordshire, or at his town house in Piccadilly; but it seems he died a bachelor 
of some seventy years and left neither chick nor child. Both Forbes and Barron, 
whose names are now as well stuck to California as they are to Ireland and Scot¬ 
land, were nearly connected with respectable and ancient families mentioned in the 
chronicles of Great Britain and Ireland, but no library, institution of learning, or 
relief to their fellow men in the California countries, were remembered by them in 
their wills. Before they died, various of our lawyers and speculators had thinned 
their purses, and no doubt they hurled a few quiet curses at the name of California. 
As the Spaniards say, they were muy enojada con Alta California ; and they unhap¬ 
pily cut her off with less than a shilling. 

The other notable referred to in the introductory paragraph of the 
preceding article was William Sturgis, of Boston, to whom Alfred 
Robinson dedicated his now rare old book, Life in California (1846). 

From Bancroft’s History of California (vol. iv, p. 152) 

“Forbes’ book was not only the first ever published in English relating exclu¬ 
sively to California, and more than any other the means of making known to English 
readers the country’s advantages, but it has always maintained its reputation of being 
one of the best extant on the subject.” 

From Allibone’s Dictionary of English Literature 

“This work furnishes us with a striking illustration of the wretchedness of man, 
if he lives without exchange and well-developed property, even though surrounded 
by a bountiful nature.”— Lieber’s Essays on Property and Labour , p. 140; 148,149. 

“A valuable work. The author was one of the first of the Anglo-Saxon race 
to explore this, till lately, unknown country; he reaped the reward of his enterprise 
by securing the possession of the great quicksilver mines, now worked by the firm 
of which he is the head.” 

“A work of superior excellence and most useful instruction.”— Chancellor 
Kent. 



CALIFORNIA 


A HISTORY 

OF 

UPPER AND LOWER CALIFORNIA 

FROM THEIR FIRST DISCOVERY TO THE PRESENT TIME, 
COMPRISING 

AN ACCOUNT OF 

THE CLIMATE, SOIL, NATURAL PRODUCTIONS, 
AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE, 

&c. 

A FULL VIEW OF 

THE MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS AND CONDITION 
OF THE FREE AND DOMESTICATED INDIANS. 

WITH AN APPENDIX RELATING TO 

STEAM NAVIGATION IN THE PACIFIC. 


ILLUSTRATED WITH A NEW MAP, PLANS OF THE HARBOURS, 
AND NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. 


BY ALEXANDER FORBES, ESQ. 


LONDON: 

SMITH, ELDER AND CO. CORNHILL. 


1839. 



TO 


JOHN FORBES, M. D., F. R. S. 

&c. &C. &c. 


My dear Brother, — 

I herewith send you, such 
as it is, my work on California, in which I have 
attempted to give some account of that very 
remarkable and little - known country. If, on 
perusing my papers, you deem them worthy of 
publication, let them be published ; but, in that 

case, you must not only be the Editor of my 

book, but its foster - father ; and as it usually 

happens with adopted children that they are more 

indebted to those who train them to manhood 
than to those who give them existence, so it 
may well be that my “ California, ” if found to 
possess any merit by the public, shall owe more 
to your care than to the capability of its original 
author. I need not tell you how little accustomed 

iii A 2 


IV 


DEDICATION 


I am to literary labors of any kind, and you 
well know that my present position puts it even 
out of my power to take advantage of those 
emendations or improvements which are apt 
to suggest themselves during the progress of a 
work through the press. In all these things, 
then, I claim the help of your more experienced 
hand, and trust implicitly to your judgment and 
kindness. 

Should you decide on publishing my history 
of California, I request that you will place this 
letter at its head, as a Dedication to yourself, 
as, whatever be its fate as a book, I am most 
desirous that it should, at least, bear witness to 
all those of its readers, who know either you or 
me, with what sincere esteem and regard 
I always am, my dear brother, 

Yours faithfully and affectionately, 

Alexander Forbes. 


Tepic, Zlnd October , 1835. 


PREFACE 


The chief part of the following work was transmitted 
from Mexico to the editor three years ago. Circum¬ 
stances, which it is unnecessary here to mention, 
deferred its publication to the present time. This 
delay, although in some respects to be regretted, 
has been attended with several advantages. It has 
enabled the author to forward to the editor some 
additional matter of importance, particularly the 
account of the recent declaration of independence 
by California. This and other additions have been 
inserted in their proper places. 

In another respect, also, the delay in the pub¬ 
lication has perhaps been rather fortunate than 
otherwise. The changed relations of California 
with Mexico, and the new relations with other 
states thence likely to accrue ; the existing 
position of Mexico in regard both to France and 
England; and, above all, the great interest just now 
excited in the commercial world by the projected 


VI 


PREFACE 


improvement between the different Spanish-American 
states, and between Great Britain and them, by 
means of steam-navigation, — all these will probably 
render the work more attractive to many readers 
at the present moment, than it would have been 
three years ago. 

The greater part of the contents of the volume, 
however, the editor believes, stands in no need of 
any adventitious help to make it interesting to 
most readers. The ample details which it contains 
of the spiritual conquest (as it has been called) 
of California, — that is, of the entire subjection of 
the native inhabitants by the Spanish missionary 
priests, — and the striking view which it presents of 
the singular system of civil polity and ecclesiastical 
slavery which has been the result of this conquest, 
and still exists in full activity, are matters which 
cannot fail to engage the attention of all who 
delight to view man in novel and strange aspects, 
and under the influence of circumstances calculated 
to try the good and the evil parts of his nature. 
The editor believes that the present volume contains 
a much fuller account of all these things than is to 
be found in any other work. 

An interest of a very different kind will attach 


PREFACE 


vii 

to that portion of the volume — a large portion 
— which relates to the natural character and pro¬ 
ductions of the country, the actual state of its 
agriculture and commerce, and its capabilities as 
a field for European colonization. In this respect, 
the present work seems calculated to give rise to 
much speculation, if not to important enterprises 
of a practical kind. Respecting the suggestion, 
thrown out by the author, of the chance now 
offered to the people of Great Britain, of getting a 
footing in Upper California, either by the voluntary 
cession of the country to the state, or to a com¬ 
pany, as a consideration for debts not likely to be 
otherwise discharged, the editor offers no opinion. 
It seems, however, to be one not unworthy the 
attention of the parties involved in the public loan 
to Mexico, or even of the British government 
itself. 

In preparing the MS. for the press, the editor 
has, in accordance with the author’s wish, 
added, in the body of the volume, various 
brief extracts, here and there, from the works of 
travelers who have visited California, and which 
he thought would render the original account more 
interesting, by giving some additional details. His 


PREFACE 


viii 

authorities are, here, chiefly, Laperouse, Vancouver, 
Langsdorff, and Beechey, — all of whose works 
contain very interesting, and no doubt very 
accurate, accounts of the state of the country at 
the time they visited it. These additions, and the 
arrangement of the original materials in a some¬ 
what more book-like shape, are all the share 
that the editor can claim in the present work. 
The author wishes to be considered responsible 
for everything else, whether matter of fact or 
matter of opinion. 

For the matter in the appendix, however, the 
editor is solely responsible ; but he trusts the 
author will not hesitate to sanction an addition 
which must prove both useful and interesting to 
his readers. 

The first document in the appendix — the account 
of the ports of California, by Captain Hall — is so 
intimately connected with the subject of the work 
that it cannot fail to be regarded as an important 
addition to its contents ; and the editor regrets 
that he neglected to apply for the information at 
an earlier period, in order that it might have been 
incorporated with the topographical details in the 
third chapter of the second part of the volume. 


PREFACE 


IX 


The remaining documents in the appendix—those 
relating to the projected plan of steam-navigation 
in the Pacific, and a more speedy communication 
between the western coasts of the American conti¬ 
nent and England — likewise appear to the editor 
of too much importance in themselves, and too inti¬ 
mately connected with the interests of the countries 
described in the work, to be withheld from the 
reader. Whatever tends to facilitate and improve 
the navigation and commerce of the more southern 
states must exert a powerful influence on the condi¬ 
tion of California, — a country which will be found 
to be pre-eminently calculated to be the granary 
of South America, and whose present emancipated 
condition will doubtless greatly augment its com¬ 
merce generally. It cannot be for a moment 
doubted that if the projected line of navigation 
were established between Valparaiso and Panama, 
it would speedily be prolonged northward to 
Guatemala, Acapulco, and San Bias, on the Mexican 
coast, and from thence to .Upper California, either 
by the Pacific coast to San Diego, Santa Barbara, 
Monterey, and San Francisco, or along the gulf 
northward to the Rio Colorado. The editor has 
learned from a gentleman, acquainted with the 


X PREFACE 

navigation of those seas, that not only the Gulf of 
California is perfectly navigable by steam-vessels to 
its upper extremity, but that the Rio Colorado is 
so, also, up to its junction with the Gila. As to 
the probability of the speedy accomplishment of the 
designs of the projected company, the editor is not 
in a situation to pronounce an opinion ; but when 
we consider with what gigantic steps Steam has 
proceeded since its birth, the wonders it has already 
wrought in its mere infancy, and the wealth and 
enterprise of British merchants, there certainly seems 
no more reason for doubting that the splendid 
scheme will be realized at no distant date, than 
there can be any question as to the vast benefits its 
accomplishment must confer upon the countries to 
which it refers. 

By the message of the President of the United 
States, to the two Houses of Congress, of the 4th 
instant, it is clear that by the convention between 
Russia and the United States, made in April, 1824, 
no settlements on the northwest coast were to be 
formed by Russian subjects, or under the authority 
of Russia, southward of north latitude 50° 40'. 
Nevertheless, long before that convention, and ever 
since, Russia has held her settlement of La Bodega, in 


PREFACE 


xi 


north latitude 38° 19', as shown by the map. It is 
not in accordance with the usual spirit of the United 
States, in enforcing the due fulfillment of all treaties 
affecting their boundaries, to have acquiesced so long 
in this flagrant infraction, but perhaps, as the 
Russian intrusion was not upon their territories, 
but upon those of Mexico, they did not think it 
worth their while to complain. However, by the 
refusal of Russia to renew the above convention, 
it appears that the Emperor does not wish that his 
subjects settled southward of 50° 40', north latitude, 
should be subject to any molestation, or that they 
should be prevented from making fresh settlements 
in other places. 

The editor does not think that the attention of 
the governments of Mexico, the United States, and 
Great Britain has been sufficiently drawn to Russian 
policy on the northwest coast of America. 

The editor cannot close this prefatory notice with¬ 
out expressing, in the author’s name and his own, 
the obligations they owe to their friends Captain 
Smyth, R. N., R. C. Wyllie, Esq., and John Hall, 
Esq., for their kind assistance in rendering the work 
more worthy of the reader’s attention. For nearly 
all the pictorial illustrations the author is indebted 


PREFACE 


xii 

to the elegant pencil of Captain Smyth, which has 
never failed to perpetuate the more remarkable 
scenes of the numerous countries visited by him. 
The plans of all the harbors delineated on the 
map (with the exception of San Francisco, copied 
from Captain Beechey’s excellent chart in the Admi¬ 
ralty) have been furnished by Captain Hall from his 
own original surveys. To Mr. Wyllie, whose former 
residence in Mexico rendered his opinion important 
on many points, the editor is indebted for several 
valuable suggestions and much active assistance during 
the progress of the work through the press. 

J. F. 


Chichester, December 24, 1838. 


CONTENTS 


INTRODUCTION.1 

Part I 

LOWER CALIFORNIA 

CHAPTER I 

History of Lower California from Its Discovery to Its 
First Settlement by the Jesuits.—Native Inhabitants. 

— Nature of the Country.7 

CHAPTER II 

Progress of the Jesuits to the Death of Father Kino. — Mode 

of Converting the Indians.27 

CHAPTER III 

Progress of the Missions to the Present Time.46 

CHAPTER IV 

Character of the Missionary Government. — Present State 

of the Country. — Produce. — Pearl-Fishery. ... 56 

xiii 





XIV 


CONTENTS 


Part II 

UPPER CALIFORNIA 

CHAPTER 1 

First Settlement of Upper California by the Franciscans. 

— History of the Missions to the Death of Father Serra 79 

CHAPTER II 

Recent History of Upper California. — Present Political 

Condition and Prospects..131 

CHAPTER III 

Topography of Upper California.—Natural Productions 154 

CHAPTER IV 

Some Account of the Original Inhabitants of Upper Cali¬ 
fornia.— Their Manners and Customs.180 

CHAPTER V 

Account of the Missionary Establishments. — Present State 
of the Indians in Them. — Remarks on the Missionary 
System Generally, and on the Conversion of Infidels . 199 

CHAPTER VI 

State of Agriculture in Upper California. — Its Produce 

in Grain and Live-Stock.246 

CHAPTER VII 

Commerce of Upper California. — Navigation. — Revenues 281 

CHAPTER VIII 

Upper California Considered as a Field for Foreign Colo¬ 
nization.309 





CONTENTS 


xv 


APPENDIX 

I 

REMARKS on the HARBORS of CALIFORNIA. By 
Captain John Hall .327 


II 

On STEAM-NAVIGATION in the PACIFIC. Remarks 
by a Former Resident.332 


III 

EXTRACTS 

I 

PANAMA and the PACIFIC. A Memorandum Sent to the 
Foreign Office, on the Advantage of Using the Isthmus 
of Panama as a More Rapid Means of Communication 
between Europe and the Ports of the Pacific Ocean. By 
the Hon. P. Campbell Scarlett. 343 

II 

Extract from “Statements and Documents Relative to the 
Establishment of Steam-Navigation in the Pacific.” 


By William Wheelwright, Esq .346 

Letter from Captain Fitz Roy .350 


III 

Extract from the Prospectus of the “ Pacific Steam Naviga¬ 
tion Company,” to be Incorporated by Royal Charter. 
Capital, £250,000, in 5,000 Shares of £50 Each. 
Issued November 5, 1838 . 351 








ILLUSTRATIONS 


PLATES 


1. Portrait of Father Peyri. Frontispiece 

2. Portrait of a Native Indian ... To face page 7 

3. View of the Bay of Monterey.105 

4. View of the Harbor of San Francisco.127 

5. View of Santa Barbara.167 

6. Indian Hot-Air Bath, or Temescal.197 

7. View of the Mission of San Carlos and Bay of Monterey 199 

8. View of the Presidio and Pueblo of Monterey . . . . 203 

9. View of the Mission of San Francisco.211 


10. Throwing/^Lasso. /'F/V^Viewo/'^ Mission a/'SanJose 273 


Californian Plow ( woodcut ) .248 

N. B. — In the woodcut of the Californian plow (page 248), 
the small wedge-shaped figure is intended to represent a section 
of the sole, or main piece of the plow 


MAP of CALIFORNIA 


XVI 


At the end of the work 










CALIFORNIA 


The extensive tract of country comprised under 
the general name of California, or the Cali- 
fornias, constitutes, at present, part of the Mexi¬ 
can republic, and was formerly included in the 
viceroyalty of New Spain. It extends along the 
border of the great Pacific Ocean, which bounds it 
on the west. The northern limit of the country 
actually settled by the Spaniards is the Bay of San 
Francisco, the entrance of which lies in 37° 48' N. 
lat.; but right of territory is claimed by the Mexican 
government much farther north,—indeed, far beyond 
the Russian settlement of Bodega, which lies in lat. 
38° 19'. The southern boundary is Cape San Lu¬ 
cas, the extremity of the peninsula of Lower Cali¬ 
fornia, and lies in N. lat. 22° 48 r . The longitude 
of Cape San Lucas is 109° 4 7' W., and that of San 
Francisco 122° 27" W.; consequently the direction 
of the coast is towards the northwest. This exten¬ 
sive country is bounded on the east by the Gulf of 
1 1 B 


2 


CALIFORNIA 


California, the Rio Colorado, or Red River, and the 
Indian territory, which also limits it on the north. 

Since the division of the Mexican republic into 
federal states, the whole of California has been 
erected into what is termed a “ territory/ ’ which 
differs from a state in this, that it has not an elective 
governor or legislature, but is under the immediate 
control of the general government of Mexico, which 
appoints its governor, under the name of com¬ 
mandant-general, and all the subordinate officers, 
civil and military. 

Although now constituting only one territory or 
province, in a political sense, this extensive region 
has always been considered as two distinct coun¬ 
tries ; and indeed they are well entitled to be so 
considered, both from their natural differences and 
their civil history. The name of California was 
for nearly two hundred years exclusively applied to 
the great peninsula which is now termed Old or 

Lower California, and which is arbitrarily bounded 
on the north by a line drawn from the top of the 
Gulf of California to the shore of the Pacific, con¬ 
siderably to the southward of the port of San 

Diego. After the discovery and settlement, by the 
Spaniards, of the country to the north of this 

peninsula, and which was also named California, 
as being part of the same tract of coast and in¬ 

habited by the same race of people, the distinctive 


CALIFORNIA 


3 


appellations of Upper and Lower, or New and Old, 
California became necessary, and have since been 
universally applied ; the peninsula being termed 
Lower , as being in a lower degree of latitude, and, 
of course, Ole/, from its earlier settlement. When 
spoken of conjointly, the two countries have been, 
and are still frequently, designated THE CALI- 
FORNIAS, more especially by English navigators. 

The principal object of the present work is to give 
an account of the upper province, this being the 
only one which is of much importance; it seems, 
however, necessary to take some notice of the lower 
also, not merely from the intimate geographical 
and political relations which exist between the two 
countries, but because the history of both is closely 
connected, and that of the one throws light on the 
settlement and actual condition of the other. On 
account of its earlier settlement, I shall commence 
with the lower province, and shall endeavor to 
compress into as small a space as possible what 
seems necessary to be said respecting it. 



PART I 


LOWER 


CALIFORNIA 

































Portrait of a Native Indian 






CHAPTER I 


HISTORY OF LOWER CALIFORNIA FROM ITS DISCOVERY 
TO ITS FIRST SETTLEMENT BY THE JESUITS. — NATIVE 
INHABITANTS. —NATURE OF THE COUNTRY 

Old or Lower California was discovered in the 
year 1534, by a squadron fitted out for purposes of 
discovery, by the great ^ortes, and commanded by 
Grijalva. This expedition sailed from the coast of 
Guatemala, and soon reached the shores of Califor¬ 
nia. The adventurers put into a harbor in the 
gulf, in what they supposed to be an island, and 
which they named Santa Cruz. This supposed 
island, however, is part of the peninsula of California, 
and the harbor is that now known by the name of 
La Paz; but there is an island lying off this harbor 
which is still called Santa Cruz. The companion of 
Grijalva, on this occasion, was Mendoza, who com¬ 
manded the other ship ; and Ximenez was pilot. 
Both of these perished during the expedition : 
the former in a mutiny of his men, headed, it is 
said, by Ximenez ; and Ximenez himself by the 
natives, in the Bay of La Paz, together with 
twenty other Spaniards. The issue of this voyage 
was altogether so unsatisfactory that Cortes re- 

7 


8 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


solved to pursue the discovery himself ; and, in 
the following year, fitted out three ships at the same 
part of Guatemala, called Tehuantepec, which he 
himself joined when they reached the port of Chia- 
metla, having marched overland from Mexico with 
a large retinue of soldiers, negro slaves, settlers, and 
priests. He soon reached Santa Cruz (La Paz), and 
sent back some of the ships for the people and the 
provisions which he had left behind. The country 
was found so barren as to afford no sustenance 
to his armament; and the imperfect navigation of 
that day rendered the transport difficult and dan¬ 
gerous, even from so short a distance as the opposite 
coast. Only one vessel is said to have returned, and 
with a very imperfect supply of stores. But, in the 
mean time, Cortes explored the gulf to the north¬ 
ward, visiting both shores: and it is believed that 
he ascertained that California was neither an island 
nor an archipelago, as had been supposed. For 
some time after this the Gulf of California was 
named the Sea of Cortes: it was also called the 
Red Sea (El Mar Rojo), either from resembling the 
Red Sea of the Old World in its shape, or from 
the discoloration of its waters, in its northern part, by 
the Rio Colorado, or Red River. After many labors 
and dangers, Cortes returned to the port of Acapulco, 
recalled by the machinations of his rivals and ene¬ 
mies in Mexico; but he continued to prosecute the 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


9 


discovery of the new countries, by means of ships, 
at his own cost, and commanded by his own officers. 
The principal of these was Francisco de Ulloa. This 
officer, in 1537, sailed with three ships, and contin¬ 
ued, nearly for the space of two years, exploring the 
different shores of the gulf up to almost its northern 
point. The expedition of Ulloa confirmed the pre¬ 
vious report of the extreme barrenness of California, 
and the rudeness and poverty of the natives, who 
were found quite naked. He saw the indigenous 
goat (argali), and observed some vessels of clay in 
the possession of the Indians,—a circumstance which 
escaped the notice of several future travelers. 

Many subsequent attempts to explore and settle 
California were made by the viceroys of New Spain, 
and also by private adventurers, but with little or no 
results of consequence for nearly a century. In 
1562-3, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo explored the western 
coast of the peninsula, reaching as high as lat. 63°. 
In 1596, in the viceroyalty of Don Gaspar de 
Zuniga, count of Monterey, Don Sebastian Viz¬ 
caino commanded an expedition to the gulf, and 
made some effort to settle the country permanently 
by establishing a garrison at the old station of Santa 
Cruz, which he named La Paz, from the peaceable 
deportment of the inhabitants. General Vizcaino 
surveyed the coast a hundred leagues to the north 
of this, and found the inhabitants less peaceable, 


10 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


having had some of his people killed by them. 
Owing to the want of provisions and the extreme 
barrenness of the coast, the attempt was abandoned, 
and Vizcaino returned to New Spain at the end of 
the same year. A still more extensive expedition 
sailed, under the same commander, in 1602, to 
explore the west coast of the peninsula, and proved 
very successful, as far as related to the examination 
of the coast. Vizcaino, in this voyage, not only ex¬ 
amined the port of Magdalena and other places on the 
west coast of the peninsula, but, sailing northwards 
beyond the limits of this, discovered, in Upper Cali¬ 
fornia, the harbor of San Diego, and Monterey 
(so called after the Viceroy) and San Francisco, 
which last, as we have seen, is still the northern 
limit of the Spanish settlements. The coast was 
explored, but imperfectly, as far north as the lati¬ 
tude of 43°. 

This part of the coast was visited about twenty-four 
years previously by Sir Francis Drake, who remained 
some time in the harbor of San Francisco, and 
explored the interior to some distance. He named 
the country New Albion, and took possession of it 
for England, not being aware that it had been pre¬ 
viously visited by the Spaniards under Cabrillo. 
Both Vizcaino and Drake recognized the fertility of 
this country, and noticed some of the principal pro¬ 
ductions both of the vegetable and animal kingdom. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


11 


The Indians were found to be mild and friendly, 
resembling those in the lower province. Sir Francis 
Drake mistook the common head-dress of some of 
them, which is worn around the head, somewhat in 
the manner of a crown, as the emblem of royalty, 
and considered the gift made of this to him, by one 
of the chiefs, as the abdication of the sovereignty 
of the country in favor of Queen Elizabeth! 

There still prevailing among the inhabitants of New 
Spain a strong belief of the great riches of Califor¬ 
nia, both in gold and pearls, but particularly the 
latter, successive expeditions visited the coasts of 
the gulf, after brief intervals, through the whole 
of this century. Many also were set on foot, not so 
much for the purpose of acquiring wealth as with 
the view of converting the Indians; the most 
anxious desire for effecting this being prevalent 
not only among the religious orders of Mexico, but 
at the court of the successive monarchs in Old 
Spain. In 1615, Captain Juan Iturhi made a voy¬ 
age to the gulf at his own expense, and, on his 
return to Mexico, inflamed the existing desire for 
the conquest of California, by the display of a great 
quantity of valuable pearls which he brought with 
him. Father Venegas states, that for one of these 
pearls Iturbi paid 900 crowns as the King’s fifth 
alone, making its value at least ^ 1,000. In the 
course of three successive years, viz. 1632, 1633, 


12 


LOWE R CALI FORNIA 


and 1634, Captain Francisco cle Ortega made three 
voyages to the same ports, and, two years later, 
Carboneli, his pilot, followed his example. In 1648, 
Admiral Casanate again made an attempt at settle¬ 
ment, under the authority and at the expense of 
government, taking with him priests for the con¬ 
version of the Indians ; but, like all his predecessors, 
he was repulsed, not by the natives, but by the in¬ 
superable barrenness of the country. The early 
histories of California narrate many other attempts 
equally unsuccessful ; as, that of Pinadero in 1664, 
of Lucenilla in 1668, and of Admiral Atondo in 
1683. The expedition of this officer was more 
considerable than most that had preceded it, and 
was distinguished by the company of the Jesuit 
missionary Father Kuhn, formerly a professor in 
a German university, and afterwards famous for 
his exploits in the conversion of the Indians, under 
the Spanish name of Kino. Atondo stayed some 
considerable time in the country, and traversed a 
considerable portion of the interior, the zealous fa¬ 
thers exerting all their powers in converting and 
baptizing the natives, but with such indifferent suc¬ 
cess that he also finally abandoned it, with the whole 
of his establishment, within a period of three years. 
This expedition, fruitless as it was, cost the Mexi¬ 
can government no less a sum than 225,400 dol¬ 
lars.* The last of these attempts, made under the 


* Venegas, vol. I, p. 224. 


LO WE R CALI FORNIA 


13 


direction of the military and civil powers was that 
of Itamarra, who made a fresh descent, at his own 
expense, in the year 1694, and with the same fruit¬ 
less results as all his predecessors. 

Some years before this, on the return of Admiral 
Atondo, the Viceroy and Council of Mexico had 
come to the resolution that the settlement of this 
country was impracticable by the means hitherto 
adopted, and that it should be no more attempted at 
the public expense: it was, however, decided, at the 
same time, that the reduction of the peninsula should 
be recommended to the Society of Jesuits, and that 
a fixed sum should be paid to them, for this purpose, 
out of the King's treasury. This recommendation 
was most cordially received by this zealous society, 
and Father Kino and the other missionaries, who 
had accompanied Atondo, kindled yet higher among 
their brethren their desire for the spiritual conquest 
of California, which was destined, in fact, to take 
place under their indefatigable zeal and courage. 
In contemplating what was thus effected, it is no 
wonder that the historian of California, himself a 
member of this holy order, should regard the cause 
as hallowed, and the agents as under the protection 
of Heaven. “The great conqueror, Hernando 
Cortes, (he says,) several times employed, in the 
conquest of California, the whole force he could 
raise. His example stimulated many private per- 


14 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


sons; even governors, admirals, and viceroys made 
the attempt. At last the kings of Spain themselves 
took the scheme into their own hands; yet the result 
of all such vast expenses, such powerful efforts, was, 
that the reduction of California was given over 
as impracticable. And so indeed it was, by the 
means made use of by men, but not by those which 
God had chosen. Arms and power were the means 
on which man relied for the success of this enter¬ 
prise, but it was the will of Heaven that this triumph 
should be owing to the meekness and courtesy of 
His ministers, to the humiliation of the Cross, and the 
power of His Word. God seemed only to wait till 
human nature acknowledged its weakness, to dis¬ 
play the strength of His almighty arm, confound¬ 
ing the pride of the world by means of the weakest 
instruments/’ * 

In the intended reduction of California under the 
new system, Father Kino was the presiding genius, 
as he had been the originator, of the plan. This 
excellent and extraordinary man had been professor 
of mathematics at Ingoldstadt, where he was in high 
favor with the electoral house of Bavaria. In 
consequence of a vow made to Saint Francis Xavier 
at a time when he was not expected to live, he left 


* Noticia de la California y de su conquista temporal y espiritual 
hasta el tiempo presente. Por el Padre Miguel Venegas. Madrid, 
1757. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


15 


his professorship and came to America, full of zeal 
for the conversion of the heathen. “ Proposing to 
himself (says Father Venegas) this holy apostle as 
his model, he imitated his virtues, and all the other 
qualities of his seraphic mind. ,, The new mission¬ 
ary was certainly a man of extraordinary talents as 
well as virtues, and his whole life proved how well 
he fulfilled the vow which had transported him from 
the lecture-room of Ingoldstadt to the savage wilds 
of America. But in the conquest of California he 
fortunately met with associates no less able and 
willing than himself, among the learned men of his 
own order, and particularly in the fathers Salva- 
tierra, Ugarte, and Piccolo, afterwards so distin¬ 
guished for their labors and success in this under¬ 
taking. To Salvatierra the direction of the first 
attempt was confided, Kino remaining on the oppo¬ 
site coast of Sinaloa, and Ugarte in Mexico, all 
equally active, in their respective stations, in pro¬ 
moting the great design. The spirit being once 
kindled, the rich among the laity as well as the re¬ 
ligious orders in New Spain contributed largely to 
the outfit of the expedition, and settled sums for 
the endowment of the new missions expected to be 
established. The government took no part in the 
enterprise, further than granting the fathers per¬ 
mission to enter the country, to enlist soldiers on 
their own account, and to have sole authority over 


16 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


all concerned in the expedition and in the intended 
missions, requiring only, in return, that the country 
should be taken possession of in the name of the 
king of Spain, and that the expedition should be 
in no way burdensome to the government. 

On the 10th October, 1697, Father Salvatierra 
sailed from the port of Yaqui, on the eastern side of 
the gulf, with his small band of five soldiers only, 
and their commander, and on the third day reached 
California. For some days they were employed in 
looking out for a convenient station, and at length 
fixed on the bay of San Dionisio, ten leagues north 
of San Bruno, where Admiral Atondo had pitched 
his camp. There, on the 19th October, they landed, 
and finding a convenient spot near a spring of water 
about a league and a half from the shore, they pitched 
their tents, and transported from the ships their 
stores of cattle and provisions, the good father be¬ 
ing the most active laborer of the party. “ Here 
(says Father Venegas) the barracks of the little gar¬ 
rison was built and a line of circumvallation thrown 
up. In the center a tent was pitched for a tempo¬ 
rary chapel; before it was erected a crucifix with a 
garland of flowers, and, everything being disposed 
in the best manner possible, the image of Our Lady 
of Loreto, the patroness of the conquest, was 
brought in procession from the ship and placed 
with proper solemnity. On the 25th, formal pos- 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 17 

session was taken of the country in the name of the 
King of Spain and the Indies. 

Before proceeding further with the history of 
these true soldiers of the Cross, and the minute but 
not uninteresting warfare which they maintained 
for so many years against the rude natives of Cali¬ 
fornia and its still ruder soil, until at length they 
triumphed effectually over the former and as much 
over the latter as was possible, it may be well to 
notice briefly the nature and extent of the obstacles 
they had to contend against. 

In all the numerous attempts that had been made 
to make a settlement in this peninsula, it was inva¬ 
riably to the rugged and unproductive nature of the 
country, not to the opposition of the natives, that the 
failures were attributable. Like all the aboriginal 
tribes encountered by the Spaniards in America, 
the Californians were a feeble and weak-hearted 
people; and although when irritated or oppressed 
they not seldom turned on their tyrants, and, when 
revenge could be safely indulged, did not hesitate 
to cut off openly or by stratagem such as fell into 
their power, still they never offered any effectual 
resistance to the invaders, hundreds, or even thou¬ 
sands, of them being often kept in awe by a mere 
handful of armed Europeans. These poor people 
had good reason both to fear and hate the Spaniards, 

as they were often greatly maltreated by the mili- 

c 


2 


18 


LOWE R CALI FO R NIA 


tary and commercial adventurers who visited their 
country before the Jesuits, and more especially by 
the traffickers for pearls, by whom the Indians were 
frequently kidnaped, and forcibly compelled to act 
as divers. Yet it was remarkable that, from the 
beginning, they showed little unwillingness to be 
present at or even to share in the ceremonies of the 
Catholic religion, (which were seldom lost sight of by 
the adventurers of those days, however stained with 
crimes,) or to benefit from the supplies of food which 
they derived from their visitors. At the period 
of the landing of the Jesuits, the natives seem to 
have been in precisely the same condition, as to 
civilization, as when first visited by Grijalva one 
hundred and sixty years before. They were little 
advanced from the rudest state of barbarism. Prop¬ 
erly speaking, they had neither houses nor clothes, 
although they made use of temporary huts formed 
of boughs of trees and covered with reeds, and the 
women wore girdles or imperfect petticoats formed 
also of reeds ; the men were entirely naked, except 
that they wore ornaments for the head, composed of 
feathers, shells, or seeds. They lived by hunting 
and fishing, and on the spontaneous produce of the 
soil. They cultivated no species of grain or esculent 
vegetable, and they seemed to possess no other arts 
than what were necessary for the manufacture of 
nets, and bows and arrows, for catching prey by sea 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


19 


and land, and for the construction of their imper¬ 
fect clothing and ornaments. Some of the tribes 
had a few vessels of clay, but their chief articles for 
containing both solids and liquids were constructed 
of reeds. Even their means of transport on the 
water were rude rafts formed of bulrushes, no boats 
or canoes of wood or hides being found among them. 
They seem scarcely to have had any fixed forms 
of government or religion, although the different 
villages and tribes submitted, on important occa¬ 
sions, to the direction and rule of some one or more 
who were distinguished by their age, strength, or 
other natural gifts, and there were also a class of 
persons among them, who were the ministers of 
some superstitious observances, and the pretenders 
to preternatural powers in the prediction or pro¬ 
duction of future events, and in the infliction or cure 
of diseases. These people were termed sorcerers 
(hechiceros) by the missionaries, although Fa¬ 
ther Venegas has the boldness to assert that 
“it cannot be thought that these poor creatures 
had any commerce or entered into a compact 
with apostate spirits, or that they received any in¬ 
structions from them. ,, It is, however, very true 
that, whether deluded or deluding, these sorcerers or 
priests exerted a powerful influence over the minds 
of their countrymen. This influence was greatly 
heightened by their being the exclusive professors 


20 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


and practicers of the important art of healing. 
“What greatly strengthened their authority (says 
Venegas) was their being the only physicians from 
whom they could hope to be relieved in their pains 
and distempers ; and whatever was the medicine, it 
was always administered with great ostentation and 
solemnity. One remedy (he continues) was very 
remarkable, and the good effect sometimes produced 
by it greatly heightened the reputation of the 
operator. They applied to the suffering part of the 
patient’s body the chacuaco, which is a tube formed 
out of a very hard black stone, and through this 
they sometimes sucked and at other times blew, but 
both as hard as they were able, supposing that thus 
the disease was either exhaled or dispersed. Some¬ 
times the tube was filled with cimarron or wild 
tobacco, lighted, and the smoke was either blown 
out or sucked in, according to the doctor’s direction. 
This powerful caustic (adds the historian) sometimes, 
without any other remedy, has been known entirely 
to remove the disorder.” Of this fact such of our 
modern surgeons as are in the habit of prescribing 
local irritation or scarification by inflammable sub¬ 
stances, termed moxas, will entertain no doubt. 

At the time California was visited by the Jesuits, 
the whole of the country explored by them, from 
Cape San Lucas as far north as the 28th degree 
of north latitude, was thinly and irregularly peopled 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


21 


by numerous tribes, more or less stationary in their 
rude villages or encampments, differing very little in 
their general habits and condition, yet sufficiently 
marked to be distinguished by fixed names, and 
speaking different languages, or different dialects of 
the same. The best informed among the fathers, 
particularly Father Taraval, of whom we shall 
hereafter have occasion to speak, believed that, al¬ 
though there were many varieties of dialect, there 
were only three languages, decidedly differing from 
one another, so as to constitute natural distinctions. 
These, in their respective spheres, extended, as might 
be supposed, from sea to sea, dividing the peninsula 
lengthwise into three nations : the Pericu occu¬ 
pying the southern division, as far north as the Bay 
of La Paz, about the 25th degree of latitude; the 
Monqui, the middle space, extending a little to the 
north of Loreto, in about the 26th degree ; and the 
Cochirm, to the northward of this, as far as the 
country was explored. As would naturally happen 
in such a rude state of society, the limits of these 
countries were not at all definite, and even the dif¬ 
ferent people had quite different names given them 
by their own or other tribes. In particular, it would 
seem that the people of the south were as com¬ 
monly termed Edu as Pericu, or those of the 
north as often Laymon as Cochi mi. Each of 
these great divisions contained clans or tribes who 


22 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


professed to be distinct from their neighbors, call¬ 
ing themselves by different names, using a some¬ 
what different speech, and demonstrating their na¬ 
tionality by incessant feuds and petty wars with 
their neighbors; but it would be worse than use¬ 
less to follow our authorities in taking any notice of 
these, as this could only tend to confuse the reader. 

The country inhabited by these people was, and is, 
one of the most barren and unattractive to be found 
in the temperate or hotter regions of the earth. 
The peninsula of California is seven or eight hun¬ 
dred miles in length, and varies in breadth from 
thirty to one hundred miles, the medium breadth 
being from fifty to sixty. It consists of an irregular 
chain, or broken groups, of bare rocks and hills, in¬ 
terspersed with tracts of a sandy soil nearly as un¬ 
productive. The greatest height of this mountain 
ridge is rather less than 5,000 feet. In some shel¬ 
tered spots, where the soil has been left safe from 
the torrents, there is a fertile mold ; but such spots 
are very rare and of small extent. Water is also 
very scarce. There are only two or three small 
streams in the whole country, and springs of good 
water are extremely infrequent. It would seem as 
if the action of the heavy rains from the central 
ridge of rocky hills, and the encroachments of the 
ocean on both its shores, had gradually washed away 
the mold and soil from its surface, except where it 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


23 


was of such a ponderous quality as sand, or where 
it was penned up by a barrier of rocks on all sides. 
In some places of this last kind, the soil was found 
remarkably fertile, and when they chanced to be in 
the vicinity of water, which was but seldom the 
case, the produce extracted from them by the indus¬ 
try of the new-comers was sometimes marvelously 
great. Such oases were of no especial use to the 
natives, except in as far as they furnished the chief 
localities for the growth of the trees and plants which 
supplied them with nuts and berries. The extreme 
barrenness of the soil prevented the growth of trees 
of any magnitude, except in a very few spots of 
insignificant extent, insomuch that the missionaries 
were obliged, as we shall see hereafter, to send to 
the opposite coast of Sinaloa for the materials for 
constructing houses. 

In this region, however, the fertility of the sea 
seemed to make amends for the barrenness of the 
land. The shores of California abound in the great¬ 
est variety of excellent fish, although from ignorance 
or stupidity the natives derived much less benefit 
from this exhaustless storehouse than it was capa¬ 
ble of affording. In one respect, indeed, this store¬ 
house was too productive for their happiness, since 
it was the fame of its pearls which, ever since its 
first discovery, had attracted so many adventurers to 
its shores, bent on enriching themselves, and alto- 


24 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


gether regardless of the welfare or even lives of the 
natives. “Great numbers (says Father Venegas) 
resort to this fishery from the continent of New 
Spain, Nueva Galicia, Culiacan, Sinaloa, and Sonora, 
and the many violences committed by the adven¬ 
turers to satiate, if possible, their covetous temper 
have occasioned reciprocal complaints ; nor will they 
ever cease (adds the good father) while the desire 
of riches, that bane of society, predominates in the 
human breast.” * And nothing can show more 
strongly the pure and disinterested motives of the 
Jesuits than the law which they obtained, after 
much trouble, from the Mexican government; viz., 
that all the inhabitants of California, including the 
soldiers, sailors, and others under their command, 
should be prohibited not only from diving for pearls, 
but from trafficking in them. This law was the 
cause of great and frequent discontent among the 
military servants of the fathers, and even threat¬ 
ened the loss of their conquest, but it was never¬ 
theless rigidly enforced by them during the whole 
period of their rule. Fishing for pearls was not, 
indeed, prohibited in the gulf and along the shores 
of California, but it was carried on by divers brought 
from the opposite shores by the adventurers en¬ 
gaged in it. 

Before returning to the history of Father Salva- 


Venegas, vol. I, p. 50. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


25 


tierra and his little band, I must be permitted to 
make one remark. If the reader should be dis¬ 
posed to smile at the minuteness with which, now 
or hereafter, we may dwell on the humble proceed¬ 
ings of the fathers, and their children the Indians, 
or may detail the puny wars of their Lilliputian 
armies, we can only offer the excuse preferred by 
the good Father Venegas in similar circumstances. 
“These particulars (he says) may possibly appear 
trifles not worth mentioning ; but let me entreat the 
reader to try their value in the balance of reason. 
Let him reflect what an agreeable sight it must be, 
even in the eyes of the Divine Being himself, to see 
men who might have acquired a large fortune by 
secular employments, or lived in quiet and esteem 
within the order they had chosen, voluntarily banish 
themselves from their country and relations to visit 
America, and, when there, resign employments and 
leave a tranquil life for disappointments and fatigues, 
to live among savages, amidst distress and continual 
danger of death, without any other motive than the 
conversion of the Indians. At least, let every one 
ask himself, whether any worldly interest whatever 
could induce him to employ himself in such low and 
obscure actions, and amid such privations and dan¬ 
gers, and he will be convinced of the importance 
and dignity which actions, contemptible in the eyes 
of men, receive from the sublimity of the motives 


26 


LO WE R CALI FO RNIA 


which inspire them.”* It is, indeed, impossible to 
read the accounts of the settlement of the two Cali- 
fornias by the Spanish missionaries without feeling 
the greatest admiration and reverence for the bold 
and pious men who undertook and accomplished the 
most arduous task of civilizing and Christianizing 
these savage countries. It may be true that the 
means they adopted to effect their ends were not 
always the wisest, that the Christianity they planted 
was often more of form than substance, and the 
civilization, in some respects, an equivocal good : 
still it cannot be denied that the motives of these 
excellent men were most pure, their benevolence 
unquestionable, their industry, zeal, and courage 
indefatigable and invincible. Not only did they 
suffer every hardship without repining, but they 
shrank not from death itself, which more than once 
thinned their ranks ; and it is the crowning glory 
of their benevolent justice that they were as zealous 
in protecting the poor Indians from the oppression 
and cruelties of the Spanish soldiers as they were 
in endeavoring to subject them to their own spir¬ 
itual domination : 

And Charity on works of love would dwell 

In California’s dolorous regions drear. | 


Venegas, vol. I, p. 230. 


t Southey. 


CHAPTER II 


PROGRESS OF THE JESUITS TO THE DEATH OF FATHER 
KINO. — MODE OF CONVERTING THE INDIANS 

No sooner was the little settlement, described in 
the last chapter, made, than Father Salvatierra set 
about his office of' converting the Indians. He be¬ 
gan by endeavoring to learn their language, and 
sought to gain their good-will by all sorts of kind¬ 
ness and unsuspicious familiarity, rewarding all 
such as would consent to be catechized and to re¬ 
peat prayers, with daily largesses of boiled maize, 
or pozole, of which the Indians were very fond. 
Indeed, the pozole was more attractive than the 
Latin prayers, and they soon began to seek for the 
one without the other, and this being refused, 
they set about considering whether they might not 
obtain their ends by force. Accordingly, after some 
smaller attempts, such as stealing the good father’s 
horse and his goats, both for food, they made a 
regular attack on the camp on the 13th November. 
On this occasion it was thought that no less than 
500 of the Indians assaulted their little intrench- 
ments, which were defended only by ten men; and 


27 


28 


LOWE R CALI FORNIA 


although Father Salvatierra would not allow the 
soldiers to fire on the enemy until things came to 
extremities, and although the great hope of safety 
of the besieged—the paderero—burst in pieces on the 
first discharge, still a few wounds and deaths among 
the Indians inspired such terror among them that 
they soon retreated, and speedily sent messengers 
to sue for peace. This victory naturally raised to a 
high pitch the courage and enthusiasm of the Span¬ 
iards. “At night,” says Father Venegas, “solemn 
thanks were returned to God, his most holy Mother, 
and St. Stanislaus (whose festival it was), for his mani¬ 
fold favors. They adored the Holy Cross as the 
standard of faith, they sang Ave to Our Lady as 
their captain, and unanimously determined to re¬ 
main in that country.” Nor did they fail to see in 
all this affair manifest signs of divine protection. 
To say nothing of the defeat of 500 men by ten, 
“it was observed (continues our authority) that 
most of the arrows stuck in the pedestal of the 
cross, whilst both it, and the tent which served for 
the chapel, were untouched.” 

Shortly afterwards, Father Francisco Maria Pic¬ 
colo arrived from the opposite coast with fresh 
supplies, and the resolution to continue with his 
brethren in California. He was a worthy fellow- 
laborer of Salvatierra, who was greatly comforted 
by his arrival. The small garrison now set about 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


29 


erecting some works of defense and buildings of a 
more permanent character; viz., “a chapel for placing 
Our Lady in,” and houses for the fathers and cap¬ 
tain, — the walls of stone and clay, and the roofs of 
thatch. The fathers returned to their daily labors 
of catechizing and maize-distributing, and all went 
on favorably for a few months ; but the Indians at 
length perceiving that the object of the Spaniards 
was neither to fish for pearls nor to obtain them in 
barter, but to introduce a new religion, they were 
once more excited — on this occasion by their 
priests, whose power and revenues were manifestly 
in jeopardy — to try to drive their new teachers 
from the country. They were, however, immedi¬ 
ately dispersed by the muskets of the soldiers, and 
peace being restored, the fathers once more pro¬ 
ceeded with their zealous labors. The first step 
was to learn the language of the natives, (a step, 
by the by, which seems disregarded by the present 
race of Californian missionaries,) for the greater 
conveniency of doing which, as well as a means of 
security, “Father Piccolo (we are told) took upon 
him to instruct the boys and girls, whom he caused 
to come within the encampment, whilst, without it, 
Father Salvatierra instructed the adults, and by this 
mild measure (says Venegas) they had their sons as 
so many hostages.” In the month of June, a new 
bark arrived, with fresh stores of all sorts, and a 


30 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


reinforcement of seven soldiers sent by Father 
Ugarte ; and the fathers, having now pretty well 
learned the language, and being, moreover, pro¬ 
vided with horses, began to carry their operations 
into the neighboring country, both north and south. 
In examining the country, they crossed the penin¬ 
sula to the shore of the Pacific, and established the 
mission of San Xavier under Father Piccolo, who 
took up his abode there in October, 1699. Early in 
the following year, we are told that the number of 
settlers already in California, including the civilized 
Indians and mestizos from the Mexican coast, 
amounted to no less than 600 ; but this great num¬ 
ber was the source rather of weakness than strength, 
as the country, as yet, afforded scarcely any means 
of support to the new-comers. They were conse¬ 
quently in the greatest straits, but could obtain no 
relief or assistance from the government. In the 
month of August of this year, it is stated in an offi¬ 
cial document that “they had reduced the Indians, 
for the space of 50 leagues, to a settled obedience, 
and founded four towns, with above six hundred 
Christians, most of them young, and no less than 
two thousand adult catechumens.” But these mag¬ 
nificent statements had a very unsubstantial foun¬ 
dation, as we find that, shortly after, some of the 
new missions were given up, the baptisms suspended, 
and the garrison, with the captain.at its head, muti- 


LO WE R CALI FORNIA 


31 


nying, partly from want of pay and provisions, and 
partly from impatience at the restraints put upon 
them by the fathers for oppressing and ill-using the 
Indians. The fathers, however, adhered firmly to 
their principles, and discharged the refractory sol¬ 
diers, retaining only a few of such as were faithful 
to them. The dismissal of the whole military force 
was, however, contemplated, should they not speedily 
receive some pecuniary aid from Mexico. The dis¬ 
charge of the heavy debts already incurred was 
confided to a bank which, we fear, is hardly solvent 
in these degenerate times. “After the total reduc¬ 
tion of the soldiers/ ’ says Father Salvatierra, in a 
letter to his friend the solicitor of Guadalajara, 
“we shall consult on liquidating all arrears; and if, 
for want of a military force, our Californian sons 
should send us to give an account to God, there 
will still remain Our Lady of Loreto, who unques¬ 
tionably will pay the whole/’ 

A great relief was afforded to the mission by a 
supply of stores sent by Father Ugarte in the fol¬ 
lowing spring, and still greater by the arrival of the 
father himself on the 19th of March, who had at 
length determined to unite his labors to those of 
his brethren in California. This worthy man seems 
to have had a more enlarged mind, as well as a more 
robust physical constitution, than his brethren. On 
being appointed to the new mission of San Xavier 


32 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


de Viaundd, planted a short time previously by 
Father Piccolo, some distance from Loreto, to the 
southwest, in the midst of the Vigge Mountains, he, 
for the first time, seems to have adopted the only 
principle on which colonies, of any kind, can be 
settled, — making them support themselves. Al¬ 
though, from the extreme barrenness of the country 
and the insufficiency of the protection afforded by 
the soldiers, this task had hitherto been deemed 
hopeless, Ugarte determined to make the trial; and 
as he knew that it could only succeed by a more 
systematic attempt at civilizing the natives, he lost 
no time in setting about this. In one respect, his 
position at San Xavier was favorable, as the neigh¬ 
borhood contained a much larger share of soil 
capable of cultivation than that of Loreto or other 
parts yet examined. With these views, Father 
Ugarte began at once to learn the language and 
study the character of the natives, preparatory to 
his greater schemes ; and to show his confidence 
in them, he speedily dismissed the few soldiers he 
had with him, on account of their ill conduct, and 
remained alone among the Indians. The following 
account of the good father's diurnal labors and 
general mode of proceeding with the Indians, and 
also the speedy results, is taken from Venegas, and 
is at once picturesque and affecting. 

“ In the morning, after saying mass, and at which 


J 








i 

\ 






S. Drummond, pnxt., Mexico, 1832 


Father Antonio Peyri ( iEt . 67) 

Missionary at San Luis Rey , upper California 
From 1799 to 1832 


Published by 1. C. Russell, San Francisco 




/ 





































































































































































































































































































- 











































*■ 








- 

































LOWER CALIFORNIA 


33 


he obliged them to attend with order and respect, 
he gave a breakfast of pozole to those who were to 
work, set them about building the church and 
houses for himself and his Indians, clearing the 
ground for cultivation, making trenches for the 
conveyance of water, holes for planting trees, or 
digging and preparing the ground for sowing. In 
the building part, Father Ugarte was master, over¬ 
seer, carpenter, bricklayer, and laborer. For the 
Indians, though animated by his example, could 
neither by gifts or kind speeches be prevailed upon 
to shake off their innate sloth, and were sure to 
slacken if they did not see the father work harder 
than any of them ; so that he was the first in fetch¬ 
ing stones, treading the clay, mixing the sand, 
cutting, carrying, and barking the timber, removing 
the earth, and fixing materials. He was equally 
laborious in the other tasks, sometimes felling trees 
with his ax, sometimes with his spade in his hand 
digging up the earth, sometimes with an iron crow 
splitting rocks, sometimes disposing the water- 
trenches, sometimes leading the beasts and cattle, 
which he had procured for his mission, to pasture 
and water ; thus, by his own example, teaching the 
several kinds of labor. The Indians, whose narrow 
ideas and dullness could not at first enter into the 
utility of these fatigues, which, at the same time, 

deprived them of their customary freedom of roving 
3 D 


34 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


among the forests, on a thousand occasions suffi¬ 
ciently tried his patience, coming late, not caring 
to stir, running away, jeering him, and sometimes 
even forming combinations and threatening death 
and destruction: all this was to be borne with 
unwearied patience, he having no other resource 
than affability and kindness, sometimes intermixed 
with gravity to strike respect; also taking care not 
to tire them, and suit himself to their weakness. 

“In the evening, the father led them a second time 
to their devotions, in which the rosary was prayed 
over and the catechism explained, and the service 
was followed by the distribution of some provisions. 
At first, they were very troublesome all the time of 
the sermon, jesting and sneering at what he said. 
This the father bore with for a while, and then pro¬ 
ceeded to reprove them ; but, finding they were not 
to be kept in order, he made a very dangerous ex¬ 
periment of what could be done by fear. Near him 
stood an Indian in high reputation for strength, 
and who, presuming on this advantage, — the only 
quality esteemed among them, — took upon himself 
to be more rude than the others. Father Ugarte, 
who was a large man, and of uncommon strength, 
observing the Indian to be in the height of his 
laughter, and making signs of mockery to the others, 
seized him by the hair, and, lifting him up, swung 
him to and fro. At this, the rest ran away in the 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


35 


utmost terror; they soon returned, one after another, 
and the father so far succeeded to intimidate them, 
that they behaved more regularly for the future. 

“In the succeeding years, Father Ugarte saw the 
happy fruits of his patience, having not only brought 
the Indians to the knowledge of the Christian doc¬ 
trine, and a decent attendance at divine worship, but 
likewise to a suitable life, without any of the disor¬ 
ders of their savage state. He inured their indocile 
sloth to labor, and he had plentiful harvests of 
wheat, maize, and other grain ; he may be said to 
have surmounted impossibilities in watering, and 
cultivating craggy and rugged grounds. He even 
made a considerable quantity of generous wine, 
of which, after supplying the missions in California, 
some was sent to New Spain in exchange for other 
goods. He likewise bred horses and sheep, and 
was, indeed, the purveyor-general of the garrisons 
and missions, who, without the assistance of Father 
Ugarte's fortitude and industry, could not have 
subsisted ; but no difficulty deterred him, and 
at last he brought his labors to the intended 
issue, and, under a long course of obstructions and 
impediments, he saw his wishes happily accom¬ 
plished. 

“To give a full idea of the industry and zeal of 
this religious man, we shall add what he did in the 
following years for clothing his naked Indians. 


36 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


His sheep, brought originally from the other coast, 
being sufficiently increased, that his Indians might 
make the best use of their wool, he determined to 
teach them the method of preparing, spinning, and 
weaving it for clothes. Accordingly, he himself 
made the distaffs, spinning-wheels, and looms. 
Though, to forward and improve so beneficial a 
scheme, he sent [to] Tepic for one Antonio Moran, 
a master weaver, and allowed him a salary of five 
hundred dollars. Moran stayed several years in Cali¬ 
fornia, till he had sufficiently instructed the Indians 
in their trade and some other handicrafts. By 
these new manufactures he saved the vast expenses 
of sail-cloth and baize, — a measure both political and 
pious. 

“It was not without reason that the venerable 
Father Salvatierra used always to call Father Ugarte 
the apostle; for, sublime as the title was, his labors 
were not unworthy of it. Always in action, and 
indefatigable ; present everywhere, and doing every¬ 
thing ; he attempted everything, and he accom¬ 
plished everything; but his activity never so sig¬ 
nally appeared as in those beginnings where the 
difficulties seemed insurmountable; sometimes he 
was preaching, assisting, admonishing, and attend¬ 
ing the soldiers; at other times he was searching 
for new spots of ground for villages and fields ; 
sometimes baptizing the children, and sometimes 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


37 


instructing the adults ; sometimes administering the 
sacraments to the sick and performing the last 
offices to the dying. Sometimes he worked in the 
buildings; sometimes in the field, making water- 
trenches, plantations, and fields ; sometimes he was 
mending the roads ; sometimes helping to get ready 
the barks for sea. In fine, he was continually 
laboring in every kind of employment, and the 
greatest fatigue he took upon himself.’’ 

A striking proof of the good father’s exertions 
was seen a few years after, in 1707, when all New 
Spain, including the provinces of Sinaloa and Sonora, 
on the opposite side of the gulf, suffered extremely 
for want of rain. California had also been without 
rain, yet we find Ugarte says, in a letter to a friend, 
“It is now two months since the seamen and lands¬ 
men ate here good bread of our own harvests, while 
the poor in the other coast, in Sinaloa and Sonora, 
are perishing.” Previously to this period, however, 
much distress was suffered and many reverses under¬ 
gone. Repeatedly, there were risings among the 
Indians, both under Father Ugarte and at the other 
missions, and more than once the cattle, and even 
the harvests, were destroyed by them ; but nothing 
could destroy the perseverance of the missionaries. 

In 1702, Father Piccolo, after a long absence, 
returned with a slight supply of money to pay the 
troops still remaining, and brought with him some 


38 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


more soldiers, as well as handicraftsmen, and two 
new missionaries, — the fathers Basaldua and Minu- 
tili. In the following year, Ugarte brought from 
the opposite side of the gulf a large supply of cattle 
and provisions, while Salvatierra made progresses 
to extend his knowledge of the country. About 
the same time, a great disaster befell the mission of 
San Xavier, now under the charge of Basaldua, 
the neighboring Indians unexpectedly attacking it 
and killing all the adult catechumens, or converted 
Indians, with the exception of some who escaped 
to the garrison. To punish this crime, an expedi¬ 
tion was sent into the country of the Indians, which 
speedily defeated them. The chief promoter of the 
attack was taken, publicly tried, and finally executed 
by the captain, notwithstanding the entreaties of the 
fathers. 

This example of severity seemed to be produc¬ 
tive of good effects, as the Indians remained long 
afterwards quiet and tractable, and the opportunity 
was not lost of extending the spiritual as well as 
military conquest of the country. But the distress 
for want of provisions was still often extreme, and 
more than once it was proposed by the soldiers and 
others that the country should be abandoned. In 
this extremity, Father Salvatierra was appointed 
Provincial of the order in Mexico (in 1705), — an 
appointment which proved of the greatest benefit 


LOWE R CALI FORNIA 


39 


to the missions. His first step was to address a 
memorial to the Viceroy, detailing at great length 
the state and prospects of the missions and the 
general condition of the country and its inhabitants. 
In this paper he states, that, although the country 
is so barren that it can never be made fit for the 
residence of Spaniards, yet that the father Jesuits 
had managed to reduce a portion of it, one hundred 
leagues in circuit. He says, that the whole of this 
part is in such profound peace that the fathers can 
go over it alone, without any guard of soldiers, the 
natives willingly conforming themselves to whatever 
the fathers require of them, being ready, together 
with 1,200 Christians, catechumens, and gentiles, to 
take arms in their behalf. He states, also, that 
1,225,000 dollars had already been expended in the 
settling of the country. 

In 1705, Father Salvatierra once more visited 
California, with fresh supplies of money and recruits. 
He found a new mission established at San Juan, 
Londo , and he recommended the immediate forma¬ 
tion of two others, in places formerly fixed on, — one 
about fourteen leagues south of Loreto, and the 
other forty leagues north, on the river Mulege, 
the former being named San Juan Bautista and the 
latter Santa Rosalia. The former of these enter¬ 
prises was intrusted to Father Pedro Ugarte, who 
seems to have possessed the same happy tempera- 


40 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


ment and strong good sense as his brother Juan. 
The following is Venegas's account of his mode of 
proceeding on his first arrival at his mission : — 

“ Father Pedro Ugarte found his Indians perfectly 
quiet, peaceable, and without any apprehension, 
though the only shelter he had for some time among 
them was the shade of the mesquites, and after¬ 
wards of a hut made with branches of trees, whilst 
the chapel and a little dwelling of adobes, or raw 
bricks, was building. He endeavored, by little 
presents and caresses, to gain the affections of his 
Indians, not so much that they should assist him in 
the building, as that they might take a liking to the 
catechism, which he explained to them as well as he 
could, by the help of some Indians of Loreto, while 
he was perfecting himself in their language. But 
his kindness was lost on the adults, who, from their 
invincible sloth, could not be brought to help him 
in any one thing, though they partook of, and used 
to be very urgent with him for, the pozole and other 
eatables. He was now obliged to have recourse to 
the assistance of the boys, who, being allured by the 
father with sweetmeats and presents, accompanied 
him wherever he would have them ; and to habitu¬ 
ate these to any work, it was necessary to make 
use of artifice. Sometimes he laid a wager with 
them who should soonest pluck up the mesquites 
and small trees; sometimes he offered rewards to 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


41 


those who took away most earth; and it suffices to 
say, that, in forming the bricks, he made himself a 
boy with boys, challenged them to play with the 
earth, and dance upon the clay. The father used 
to take off his sandals and tread it, in which he was 
followed by the boys skipping and dancing on the 
clay, and the father with them; the boys sang, and 
were highly delighted ; the father also sang ; and 
thus they continued dancing and treading the clay, 
in different parts, till meal-time. This enabled him 
to erect his poor dwelling and the church. Thus, 
with invincible patience and firmness under excess¬ 
ive labors, he went on, humanizing the savages 
who lived on the spot, those of the neighboring 
rancherias, and others, whom he sought among 
woods, brakes, and caverns ; going about every¬ 
where, until at length he administered baptism to 
many adults, and brought this new settlement into 
some form.” 

In 1707, Salvatierra having voluntarily resigned 
his dignity of provincial that he might prosecute 
his objects in California, returned thither with four 
of the natives whom he had taken with him to 
Mexico, and were brought back sufficiently in¬ 
structed to instruct their own countrymen. Shortly 
afterwards, in the beginning of 1708, the mission of 
San Jose was founded, in the center of mountains, 
about twenty leagues N.W. of Loreto, and almost at 


42 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


equal distance from both seas. In 1710, the small¬ 
pox broke out among the Indians, and carried off a 
great many, particularly children ; and other fevers 
showed themselves, as well among the soldiers as the 
Indians. The superseded priests, or sorcerers, took 
advantage of these misfortunes to promote discon¬ 
tent, persuading the Indians that the smallpox was 
owing to the fathers, who introduced the disease 
with the water of baptism, purposely to destroy the 
children. It is probable that, independently of the 
accidental source of disease and death from this 
dreadful malady, the half-civilized natives began 
already to exhibit that tendency to sickness and 
decay which has always prevailed, and still prevails, 
among the domesticated Indians, and which forms 
so striking a contrast with their comparative immu¬ 
nity from epidemic and slow maladies in their wild 
condition. 

The year 1710 was distinguished in the history of 
California by the death of Father Kino, a man whose 
name is worthy of grateful remembrance not only 
by his own order, but by all good men. Although, 
as we have seen, the great promoter of the Califor¬ 
nian missions, Kino was so engaged in his own la¬ 
bors of the same kind among the Indians in the 
opposite coast that he could take no other share in 
the new enterprise than that of exciting the zeal of 
others to the conquest, and using his utmost exer- 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


43 


tions in supplying the new settlers with provisions 
or other necessary supplies. This he continued to 
do, in the most effective manner, until his death; 
and it is certain that much of the success of the 
missions of the peninsula, perhaps their very per¬ 
manency, was owing to his exertions. In his own 
particular sphere, and among his own people, his 
labors were incessant, most exemplary, and suc¬ 
cessful. “ He labored,” says Father Venegas, “ in 
the reduction of the Indians, with a zeal truly wor¬ 
thy of admiration; went undauntedly alone among 
them, formed them into villages, prevailed on them 
to sow their lands and take care of their cattle, as 
the means of keeping them together, and employ¬ 
ing subordinate agents for their civil polity. He 
had the patience to learn the different languages, 
translated the catechism and prayers, which, without 
being disgusted by their indocility and dullness, he 
taught them verbally. He likewise composed vo¬ 
cabularies and observations for the use of his assist¬ 
ants and successors ; and such were the happy 
effects of his wonderful mildness and condescen¬ 
sion, that they all loved him and confided in him 
as their general father. He built houses and chap¬ 
els, formed villages and towns, reconciled nations 
who were at enmity, and had he, according to his 
repeated request, been seconded by other mission¬ 
aries, the conversion of all the nations betwixt 


44 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


Sonora and the rivers Gila and Colorado might 
have been easily accomplished, and the missions of 
New Spain and California have carried on an in¬ 
tercourse by land ,— a design which always appeared 
extremely difficult. But the hardships which this 
worthy man suffered from the Indians were the 
least, or rather not to be compared to those he met 
with from some Spaniards, against whose violences 
he was as a wall of brass, in favor of his converts. 
They obstructed his enterprises, and prevented his 
being assisted by others, it being their interest that 
the poor Pimas should be branded with the name of 
rebels and enemies, that they might commit depre¬ 
dations among them, and force the Indians to serve 
them as slaves.'’ 

Amid all his domestic labors as a missionary, 
Father Kino could not quite forget the tastes of the 
professor, and entertained an anxious desire to ex¬ 
plore the country to the north, and more particularly 
to solve the problem, at that time still doubted, as 
to the insular or peninsular character of California. 
It is but justice to the worthy missionary to state that, 
in wishing to extend his geographical researches, he 
was much more influenced by the desire to benefit 
the cause of Christianity than that of science, as he 
believed it would be most important for the welfare 
of the new missions in California if they could be 
made accessible by land. With the view of settling 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


45 


the question, he made several journeys to the north¬ 
ward, and although he did not actually penetrate 
into California by land, he satisfactorily ascertained 
its connection with the mainland of New Spain. 
He made no less than five journeys in the years 1700, 
1701, and 1702 and 1706, in all of which he reached 
the rivers of Gila or Colorado, and on one occasion 
he crossed the latter, but was prevented by an acci¬ 
dent from passing on to Monterey, in Upper Cali¬ 
fornia, as he intended ; but he pointed out the way 
which was followed by his successors many years 
afterwards. 


CHAPTER III 

PROGRESS OF THE MISSIONS TO THE PRESENT TIME 

During the succeeding years, the fathers, more par¬ 
ticularly the indefatigable Ugarte, made many pro¬ 
gresses through the peninsula in search of more 
favorable localities for missions, and also with the 
benevolent object of composing the feuds and petty 
wars between the different tribes, which had always 
been found a great obstacle to their civilization. 
In the year 1716, Father Salvatierra succeeded in 
getting recognized and established a general system 
of government, of a better and more definite kind 
than had hitherto prevailed, including the mission¬ 
aries, the soldiers, divers, and natives; and as this 
was observed not only during the whole period of 
the dominion of the Jesuits, but also, in a great 
measure, during the rule of their successors, and 
even still exists, it is necessary to give a brief notice 
of it here ; but we shall first complete the sketch of 
the history of the missions. 

In the year 1717, California was visited with a 

46 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


47 


tremendous hurricane, accompanied with violent 
rains, which is deserving of notice in this place, not 
only because it destroyed the house and church of 
Father Ugarte, but because the effects then wit¬ 
nessed help to account for the singular bareness 
and barrenness of the country. Both at San Xavier 
and Mulege all the cultivated land was utterly de¬ 
stroyed, the soil being carried away by the torrents, 
and nothing left but the bare rocks and stones. 
Modern travelers give similar accounts of the 
country, and justify the obvious remark of Venegas, 
that “if, in former ages, these hurricanes were fre¬ 
quent in California, it is not surprising that all its 
mold should have been swept away, its bare rocks 
alone remaining, and its plains and valleys covered 
with heaps of stones/’ 

In 1719 a great feat was performed by the inde¬ 
fatigable Ugarte, in the construction of a vessel of 
considerable size, in California, with native timber, 
which he discovered, of sufficient size, — and there 
only, — amid the mountains, full thirty leagues from 
the river Mulege, where the vessel was built. In 1720, 
two new missions were founded, — that of La Paz, 
near the bay of that name, eighty leagues south of 
Loreto; and that of Guadalupe, nearly at the same 
distance, to the N.W., amid the mountains, but much 
nearer the shore of the Pacific than the gulf. This 
part of the country is so extremely barren that no 


48 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


grain can be produced in it, and the inhabitants are 
therefore supported either by such cattle as it will 
support, or by maize brought from other missions. 
Such, however, was the zeal of Father Helen,, the 
founder, that in six years from its first settlement 
no less than 1,700 Indians were converted and settled 
in five villages, each with its church. In the follow¬ 
ing year, Ugarte sailed on a voyage of discovery to 
the north of the gulf, surveyed the coast, and reached 
the river Colorado, confirming all the previous state¬ 
ments of Kino. In the survey, several harbors 
and watering-places were discovered on the Califor¬ 
nian shore, but the same barrenness prevailed over 
all. “There ’s something ails the spot; the place is 
cursed/’ In this year, also, the mission of Dolores 
del Sur was founded, midway between Loreto and 
La Paz, in a place described as the most barren of 
all California, there being no spot whatever fit for 
the growth of maize. Father Guillen, the founder, 
remained here, however, upwards of thirty years, 
during which time, by his single exertions, he con¬ 
verted to Christianity the whole of the natives over 
a tract of forty leagues, extending from sea to sea, 
settling them in villages, and destroying all feuds 
among the different clans. This mission, in sub¬ 
sequent years, proved valuable to the fathers as an 
asylum when other districts fell from their allegiance. 
In 1723, the mission of Santiago was founded, to the 


LOWE R CALI FORNIA 


49 


south of La Paz; and in 1728, that of San Ignacio, 
in the extreme north, in latitude 28°, about seventy 
leagues from Loreto. This last was founded by 
Father Luyando, a wealthy Mexican Jesuit, at his own 
expense; and as the account of its foundation and 
early progress gives a good picture of the general 
mode of proceeding of the Jesuits in establishing 
their settlements at the period at which we are now 
arrived, I shall here give, in an abridged form, from 
Venegas, the simple and humble history of the 
establishment of this little community. 

It had been a long time a great object with the 
fathers to found a mission to the north of Guada¬ 
lupe, as well for the great general purpose of ex¬ 
tending Christianity among the natives as because 
the country possessed some local advantages. So 
early as 1706, this country of the Cochirm had been 
visited by Father Piccolo, and the Indians had 
shown very favorable dispositions, which continued 
to be cherished by the occasional visits of the fathers 
from the southern missions. The spot selected for the 
mission of San Ignacio, which lies in about the 28th 
degree of north latitude, and one third nearer the 
gulf than the ocean, was preferred for its extraor¬ 
dinary fertility, compared with most of the other 
stations. It possessed both water, and a soil fit for 
the growth of corn. In January, 1728, Father Lu¬ 
yando set out on his expedition to Loreto, accom- 

4 E 


50 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


panied by nine soldiers, the Cochi mi Indians of San 
Ignacio having been previously prepared to receive 
him favorably, by Father Sistiaga of Santa Rosalia. 
He entered on his office of civilizing the Indians 
(which was little else than that of teaching them to 
repeat the prayers of the Church, and baptizing such 
as believed) and of cultivating the soil at the same 
time. As a preliminary to baptism, he insisted on 
the abjuration of faith in the native jugglers or 
priests, and demanded the breaking and burning of 
their smoking-tubes, and other instruments and 
tokens of superstition, as a proof of this. As usual, 
the feeding of the Indians went hand in hand with 
the conversion, and, by his largesses and zeal, Father 
Luyando, in a few months’ time, could number five 
hundred catechumens at his distributions of pottage 
and of holy water. Aided by the converts, the sol¬ 
diers set about constructing a church, and with 
such zeal that it was finished and consecrated 
within the year. The year before, Sistiaga had 
planted some maize and wheat. This was now har¬ 
vested, and the agricultural operations much ex¬ 
tended. Father Helen, also, at a former visitation, 
had introduced some foreign vegetables, and Father 
Luyando now laid out a spot for a garden, “where 
(as Father Venegas says) exotic plants, in that bar¬ 
ren land, throve well, and others, which were natives 
of it, throve under his culture.” He likewise 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


51 


planted vines, olive-trees, fig-trees, and sugar-canes ; 
all of which seem to have succeeded, and proved of 
great service to the mission. The Indians in this 
mission proved, on the whole, more intelligent than 
in the others, and readily joined in the good father’s 
husbandry, so that at the fourth harvest we are told 
that he garnered no less than a thousand bushels of 
grain of all sorts. Their new lord also endeavored 
to prevail on them to live in huts, which he taught 
them to build, of unburnt bricks and the boughs of 
trees ; but he found it very difficult to reconcile 
them to live in them. Into the parts fit for pas¬ 
tures he likewise introduced cattle, both large and 
small, with the view to breeding. In short, every¬ 
thing seemed prospering and likely to prosper, 
“when (as Father Venegas expresses it) the great 
enemy to the peace and happiness of mankind in¬ 
stigated the neighboring Indians to disturb the 
tranquillity of the mission, and render all the pains 
of the father abortive.” Previously to this greater 
disturbance, however, it was evident that things did 
not proceed quite smoothly in the little state. From 
the beginning, it was found, here as elsewhere, that 
the elders of the tribes were slow to embrace the 
new faith, even when almost all the young and the 
women had done so ; and it is not to be wondered 
(as Father Venegas says) “that, having been the 
respected teachers of the nation, they could not 


52 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


prevail on themselves to be scholars to strangers, or 
stand among boys, or even be ridiculed by them.” 
It showed, indeed, a marvelous ignorance of human 
nature in the fathers to place the seniors in such 
degrading relationship to their children and women. 
However, the actual aggressors in the attack on the 
new Christians of the mission came from the north, 
or, rather, had their haunts on the northern borders 
of the converted Indians. Some of the villages of 
those people they attacked, and killed a few of the 
inhabitants. The rest fled to the mission for pro¬ 
tection ; a great alarm was excited, and war was 
declared. All the converts were mustered, and were 
proved to amount to 350 men fit for war. To these 
were joined the garrison of the mission, consisting 
of two soldiers , and, after due preparation of arm¬ 
ing and disciplining, they boldly marched in pursuit 
of the enemy. These proved to be very inferior in 
numbers, and not very vigilant, since they allowed 
themselves to be surrounded while asleep during 
the night. Two, only, escaped ; all the rest, to the 
number of thirty-four, were taken prisoners, and 
marched in triumph to San Ignacio. Great was 
the glory, and great the rejoicings, which Father 
Venegas records with all the solemnity of history. 
“The fathers (he says) led the victorious army to 
the church, where thanks were returned for this 
victory, gained without shedding any blood, or even 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


53 


discharging a single arrow. Next day, all the peo¬ 
ple were assembled, and, the soldiers and gover¬ 
nors sitting as judges, the prisoners were brought to 
trial, and, being convicted of rebellion, robbery, and 
murder, they were sentenced to be removed to Lo¬ 
reto, as guilty of capital crimes. At this the new 
Christians danced for joy, thinking they should now 
have the pleasure of killing their enemies and re¬ 
venging themselves.” But the good fathers were 
too tender-hearted to indulge either the converts or 
the soldier-judges, and the whole affair ended by 
the “principal murderer” being whipped! How¬ 
ever, the lenity, as well as the victory, had good 
effects on the natives, as most of the conquered 
afterwards became converts, and the tribes to the 
north were at once checked by the demonstration 
of power, and the mild exercise of it. 

In 1730, the mission of San Jose, close to Cape 
San Lucas, was founded, and, soon after, that of 
Santa Rosa, near the same extremity of the penin¬ 
sula ; and, although they seemed to be attended, at 
first, with the usual success, this was shortly put an 
end to by a general rising of all the natives in this 
district. There being only two or three soldiers 
among all the missions, no effectual resistance could 
be afforded to the “rebels,” as the fathers termed 
them, and, accordingly, they soon had everything 
their own way. In 1734, the two fathers, Carranco 


54 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


and Tamaral, were murdered, as well as one of the 
soldiers ; the other fathers and the soldiers fled, 
and the whole of the southern missions were con¬ 
sequently lost. Apprehensive of similar disasters in 
other parts, the fathers were recalled from the 
northern missions; and at one time in the following 
year not a Spaniard remained in the country, ex¬ 
cept at Loreto. In this disastrous state of affairs 
they were relieved by a reinforcement of troops 
from Sinaloa, headed by the governor, who attacked 
the Indians in different places, and finally reduced 
the country to tranquillity. After some time the 
missions were gradually restored, and the fathers 
proceeded in their works of conversion and civiliza¬ 
tion. Accordingly, we find, from an official report 
drawn up by the missionaries in 1745, that not only 
all the old stations were reoccupied, but several new 
ones planted. They amounted, in all, to fourteen, 
besides two then in progress ; viz.,— 

1. Nuestra Senora de Loreto. 

2. San Francisco Xavier. 

3. Nuestra Senora de los Dolores del Sur. 

4. San Luis Gonzaga. 

5. San Jose de Comondu. 

6. Santa Rosalia de Mulege. 

7. La Purisima Concepcion. 

8. Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe. 

9. San Ignacio. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 55 

10. Nuestra Senora de los Dolores del Norte. 

11. Santiago del Sur. 

12. Nuestra Senora del Pilar de la Paz. 

13. San Jose del Cabo de San Lucas. 

14. Santa Rosa de la Ensenada de Palmas. 

No very great progress, however, could be made 
in so unpromising a field, from which the whole 
race of missionaries were removed in 1767, on the 
general expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish 
dominions. At this time the number of missions 
were sixteen. The exiled fathers were superseded 
in their missions by a body of Franciscans from 
Mexico, but they were soon displaced by the 
Dominican monks, who still keep possession of the 
country. 

In 1786, as Laperouse informs us, the missions 
were fifteen in number, ten of them being still 
possessed by the Franciscans, the others by the 
Dominicans. The whole number of converted In¬ 
dians at that time was reckoned at about four 
thousand. The garrison of Loreto consisted of 
fifty-four soldiers, and this, and a few soldiers fur¬ 
nished to the other missions, was the whole military 
force of the country. 


CHAPTER IV 


CHARACTER OF THE MISSIONARY GOVERNMENT. —PRESENT 
STATE OF THE COUNTRY. —PRODUCE. —PEARL-FISHERY 

During the rule of Father Salvatierra, the whole 
regulations relating to the property and conduct of 
the missions and the treatment of the natives were, 
as already stated, reduced to a regular system, and 
this has been acted on ever since, with but slight 
deviation, even by the enemies of the order of 
Jesuits, who succeeded them. As affording the 
best security for the funds belonging to the mis¬ 
sions, farms in Mexico were purchased by them. 
At the same time, the payment of the royal sala¬ 
ries allowed to the missionaries was put on a better 
footing. These salaries were paid to the directors 
of the missions in Mexico, the missionaries having 
the equivalent value transmitted to them in the 
form of clothes, furniture, utensils, provisions, medi¬ 
cines, mules, &c. The garrisons and soldiers were 
paid by government, but they still continued 
under the authority of the fathers, except as re¬ 
garded their internal discipline, and when they were 
engaged in matters of a purely military character. 
The following extracts from Father Venegas give a 

56 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


57 


tolerably clear view of the general economy of the 
missionaries, both religious and civil; but it is neces¬ 
sary to recollect, in reading them, that the narra¬ 
tor is, himself, one of the order which he eulogizes. 

“At first the fathers subsisted all the Indians, who 
came to settle in villages, on condition that they 
should no longer wander among the woods and 
mountains, but be instructed in the faith ; and in 
these charities great part of the contributions of 
the benefactors has been expended. And after 
they were thus brought together, it being impossi¬ 
ble to subsist all, and equally so to make fields for 
sowing in many parts, either from the nature of the 
soil, want of water, or the innate indolence and sloth 
of the people, the following method was taken. 
First, the missionaries supported all the Indians who 
attended divine service. Every morning and night 
they have an allowance of atole, — the name they 
give to their pottage, — made of maize, boiled, and 
afterwards bruised, macerated in water, and put a 
second time over the fire. At noon they are served 
with pozole, or boiled maize, with fresh or salt 
meat, and fruits or vegetables, according as the 
mission is provided. In the same manner the In¬ 
dian governor of the village, the sick, the aged, and 
the children of all the rancherias, male and female, 
from six to twelve years, are provided with food. 
Besides this, every week the same allowance is 


58 


LOWE R CALI FO R NIA 


given to all the Indians of two rancherias, male and 
female, in consideration that they all come in their 
order, two by two, to the head village of the mis¬ 
sion, in order to renew their instructions. Lastly, 
every Sunday, all who attend divine service have a 
portion of victuals, and in Passion Week the like is 
sent to all the rancherias. 

‘ ‘ The missionary priest likewise clothes all his 
parishioners with serges, baize, and palmillas, a sort 
of coarse cloth woven in Old Spain ; he also pro¬ 
vides them with cloaks and blankets, which he pro¬ 
cures from Mexico, on his stipend. Those who can 
work are instructed by the fathers in the manage¬ 
ment of the fields, and watering the ground, the 
product of which is entirely for their own advan¬ 
tage, and the consequence is, that they gather it, 
and immediately waste the whole, unless the fa¬ 
thers take care to save it up, in order to make a 
proper distribution, or to send relief to another 
mission in necessity. Wine is the only product 
withheld from them, and this in order to prevent 
drunkenness ; and it is for this reason, that, though 
the vintages are but inconsiderable, some quantities 
of it, there being but few consumers in California, 
have been exported to New Spain, in exchange for 
other commodities. What wine the father has is 
chiefly given to the sick, whom he likewise supplies 
with medicines, so that a missionary and priest of 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


59 


California is not only charged with the care of their 
souls, but likewise with all the several duties of a 
father of a family, together with the several me¬ 
chanical occupations from a laborer to a cook. 
He is likewise a tutor, apothecary, surgeon, and 
physician to all; and this without the least profit, 
advantage, or reward, spending his own substance, 
abridging himself of conveniencies, even necessa¬ 
ries, to supply their wants. 

“ In every mission newly founded, the father is 
attended by a soldier, who, within certain bounds, 
has the power of the captain of the garrison. When 
the father has assembled any rancherias, he ap¬ 
points the person whom he thinks most proper as 
governor of the village ; another Indian to take 
care of the church; and out of each rancheria a 
person of the most promising morals, and particu¬ 
larly instructed, is appointed catechist. The gover¬ 
nor’s office is to keep peace and good order ; and 
if anything happens that he cannot remedy, he 
is to acquaint the father and soldier with it. The 
churchwarden is to take care of the church and 
keep it clean; he is also to take notice of those that 
fail coming to mass and other exercises of devotion, 
those that do not behave with proper respect, and 
those who either return to their former supersti¬ 
tions, or betray any ill-will against the fathers, or 
disgust at the instructions. The catechist of the 


60 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


rancheria summons them every morning, before 
they go to the woods, to repeat their prayers and 
catechism; and if anything deserving animadver¬ 
sion happens in the rancheria, he acquaints the 
father of it. 

“ During the absence of the father, either to visit 
villages and rancherias, attend the sick, or termi¬ 
nate quarrels, the soldier acts as his vicegerent, 
and has an eye to everything. He is, at the father’s 
order, to go wherever it is necessary ; he can seize 
delinquents and mildly punish them, unless in capi¬ 
tal cases, when he is to lay the case before the 
captain of the garrison, who is invested with the 
judicial power. Lesser faults are punished with 
whipping, and the greater with imprisonment or 
the stocks. 

“The first care is of the children, as the whole 
depends on their education. Some, from all the 
missions, are brought up at Loreto, which has a 
reading, writing, and singing school, with proper 
masters, who come from the opposite coast. They 
become gradually polished by conversation ; they 
are taught the Spanish, and afterwards are pro¬ 
moted to be churchwardens or catechists in their 
rancherias, where they are greatly respected. At 
the head villages, every morning, the churchwarden 
assembles all the inhabitants in the church, whither 
the rancherias come by turns, and there the Te 


LOWE R CALI FO RNIA 


61 


Deum is sung. This is followed by the mass, and 
afterwards by the catechism, which is translated 
into their languages, and, several times a week, the 
whole concludes with an explication, or sermon, 
instructing and animating them in every part of the 
Christian life. The adult Christians then undertake 
some employment, or go among the woods in quest 
of sustenance. At night they all meet again in the 
church, and perform their devotions. Every Sun¬ 
day they walk in procession round the village, sing¬ 
ing ; they then return to the church, where a ser¬ 
mon is preached to them. The like is done at 
Loreto every Saturday, in Spanish, for the garrison. 

“No one is compelled by force to receive the 
faith ; all who are baptized desire it, not only 
freely and without the least compulsion, but all 
possible assurances are given of their sincerity 
and perseverance. The garrison and soldiers 
check the insults of the savages ; but if the orders 
and intentions of His Majesty and the Spanish 
government be complied with, they never offer them 
the least injury, never so much as pursuing them, 
unless provoked; the chief end of their service is 
no more than as a just and prudent safeguard for 
the lives of the missionaries/* 

What with the insuperable barrenness of the 
country, and the injurious influence of the system 
of civilization — or, more properly speaking, domesti- 


62 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


cation — so rigidly persevered in by the missionaries, 
the indigenous population of Lower California has 
greatly diminished, while the defect has not been 
in any degree supplied by the influx of strangers. 
Indeed, the nature of the soil and the institutions 
of the fathers conspire in forbidding all immigra¬ 
tion. Humboldt states the total amount of the 
national population not to exceed nine thousand, 
rather more than half of which are the tributary 
converts of the fathers. This estimate is perhaps 
too small. I can, however, state with confidence, 
that, even at the present time, the population, 
including all classes, does not exceed fourteen or 
fifteen thousand. Most of the missions are in a 
wretched condition, and the Indians, poor and 
helpless, slaves both in body and mind, have no 
knowledge, and no will but those of the friars. 

We shall defer all particular notice of their pecu¬ 
liar character and position until we come to give 
an account of Upper California. 

The capital, Loreto, has less than three hundred 
inhabitants. The only town of any importance, as 
to size, is La Paz, which, together with San Antonio, 
contains, perhaps, a population of two thousand,— 
most of them the mixed progeny of European sea¬ 
men, Spanish creoles, and Indians. The vicinity of 
a tolerable harbor — Pichilingue — renders this place 
of more importance. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


63 


The indomitable barrenness of Lower California, 
the more remarkable as contrasted with the fertility 
of the upper province, has not only necessarily kept 
at an extremely low ebb her agriculture and com¬ 
merce, but has given the country so bad a character 
that its resources have fallen far below their intrinsic 
value. If the country is capable of producing little, 
the antiquated monastic institutions by which it is 
throughout possessed are ill calculated to improve 
this little. The natural productions are nearly the 
same as those in Upper California. There are said 
to be many mines of gold and silver in the penin¬ 
sula, but none are now worked, unless, indeed, we 
may except those of San Antonio, near La Paz, 
which still afford a trifling supply. Besides Indian 
corn, the sheltered valleys near the different missions 
produce a variety of fruit, such as grapes, dates, 
figs, quinces, peaches, pears, olives. The dates, figs, 
&c., are dried and preserved, and exported ; and 
wine is made from the grapes, and also exported, as 
well as a kind of spirit distilled from the mescal. 
These articles, with pearls, tortoise-shell, a few bul¬ 
lock’s hides, some dried beef, cheese, soap, &c., con¬ 
stitute all the exports, which are, for the most part, 
sent to San Bias and Mazatlan in small coasting- 
vessels. The imports are chiefly provisions and 
clothing, agricultural and domestic utensils, sup¬ 
plies for the ceremonies of the church, and a small 
share of the ordinary luxuries of life. 


64 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


For one branch of commerce — the pearl-fishery — 
California has been famed from its first discovery. 
The glory and the riches derived from this source 
are, however, almost traditional; at least, the actual 
amount of the trade is insignificant. Nevertheless, it 
is by no means certain that the sources of a beneficial 
commerce in this respect do not yet exist, provided 
proper means were taken for pursuing it with effect. 

Long before the discovery of America by the 
Europeans, the natives of many of the maritime 
parts of it were acquainted with the art of diving for 
pearls, as these were found by the first discoverers 
to be held in great estimation as ornaments. * 
Llernando de Soto found them in great quantity in 
Florida, where the tombs of the native princes were 
ornamented with them ; and among the presents 
made to Cortes by Montezuma, before his entry 
into Mexico, necklaces of precious stones and of 
pearls are mentioned by Gomara : these Cortes 
sent to the Emperor Charles V. The Incas of Peru, 
also, we are told by Garcilaso, set a great value on 
pearls, but the laws of Manco Capac prohibited the 
natives from exercising the trade of diver, as being 
dangerous to the individual and not very profitable 

* It was not, indeed, necessary that they should be divers, in order 
to possess pearls, as we find from the voyage of Father Consag 
(Venegas, vol. II, p. 310) that in certain places (as at Cape San 
Miguel, in lat. 29 deg.) the sea throws up on the shore great quantities 
of them. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


65 


to the state.* After the discovery of America, the 
traffic in pearls became considerable. They were 
found chiefly near the island of Cubagua, in the 
mouth of the Rio de la Hach^ and in the gulf of 
Panama, near the Islas de las Perlas (whose* inhabi¬ 
tants still pursue the fishery), on the shore to the 
north of Acapulco, and on the east coast of Cali¬ 
fornia, in the gulf. We are told by Acosta that, in 
1587, 697 pounds of pearls were imported into Seville, 
from America, upwards of 11 pounds of which were of 
the greatest beauty, and destined for the king, Philip 
II. The pearl-fisheries of Cabagua and Rio de la 
Hacha seem to have been of short duration, and 
their exhaustion turned the traders more eagerly 
towards that of California, which had already sup¬ 
plied the crown of Spain with its richest pearls, 
found in the expeditions of Yturbi and Pinadero. 
In those times, the trade in pearls was certainly very 
considerable, and this continued to be carried on 
without any restriction up to the period of the 
settling of the country by the Jesuits. It is stated 
by Torquemada, that, previously to the arrival of the 
strangers, the Californians hardly put any value on 
the pearls, as they were in the habit of throwing 
the oyster into the fire, in order to obtain the flesh 
for food, the pearls being destroyed by the same 
process. “But the avidity of others/’ he adds, “has 


5 


Humboldt’s New Spain. 


F 


66 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


communicated its flame even to this simple people, 
who are now eager to get, and careful to keep, what 
they have seen highly valued by foreigners.’’ The 
conduct of the Jesuits in regard to this fishery has 
been already stated: it was strictly forbidden, on 
account of the oppression and cruelty to the natives 
to which it led. 

The rude and savage adventurers of those days 
little regarded the welfare, or even lives, of the In¬ 
dians, when put in competition with their own self¬ 
ish interests, and it was customary to kidnap, and 
employ by force, as divers, in the pearl-fishery, all they 
could lay their hands on, on the coasts and islands 
of the gulf. Many of the natives, no doubt, volun¬ 
tarily lent themselves to this employment, under 
certain terms of remuneration, but this was rather 
the habit of the few regular traders, than of the 
many casual adventurers who sought the peninsula 
in search of its boasted treasures. A characteristic 
illustration of this fact is mentioned by Father 
Consag, in his voyage for surveying the coast of 
California in 1746, and which we believe to be no 
less just as indicative of the character of the fathers, 
than it is of the practices of the pearl-fishers. On 
reaching a part of the coast near the top of the 
gulf, he says, “The people, on seeing the canoes, 
took us for divers , and fled up the country, the 
outrages and brutality of these men having ren- 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 67 

dered them equally dreaded and detested by all 
the natives of California, but, on being made ac¬ 
quainted by some of their countrymen, who were 
with me, that A Father was come in the canoes, 
they immediately returned/’ * It is indeed true, 
that, after the establishment of the Jesuits, the pearl- 
fishery, which had been previously greatly inter¬ 
rupted by the opposition of the natives, originating 
in these cruelties, began to be prosecuted with 
greater vigor and success than ever, now that the 
divers were left, in a considerable degree, unmo¬ 
lested ; but the divers and traders did not belong 
to California, but came from the opposite shores of 
the gulf, whose inhabitants to this day are the prin¬ 
cipal fishers. The Jesuits had the influence to obtain 
authority from the government not only for ex¬ 
cluding all vessels from fishing in the gulf, except 
such as had the viceroy’s license, but also that the 
military commandant in California (who, be it re¬ 
membered, was under the authority of the fathers) 
should have the power to examine and verify these 
licenses, and to prevent the approach of all vessels 
not provided with them. It was expressly forbid¬ 
den to every one, whether soldiers or seamen, be¬ 
longing to the missions to have anything to do with 
the fishery, — a regulation which excited extreme 
discontent at the time, but which the fathers had 

F 2 


* Venegas. 


68 


LOWER CALI FO RNIA 


the power to get fully carried into effect. Their 
reason for debarring their people from this trade 
was their conviction, founded on experience, that, 
if permitted, it would not only seduce them from 
their proper duties in the missions, but would in¬ 
evitably lead to the oppression of their children the 
Indians, as they termed them. 

At the period of these regulations, — at the very 
commencement of the seventeenth century, — the 
revenue to the crown was not inconsiderable, as 
the king's share (a fifth) amounted to no less than 
12,000 dollars per annum for every bark employed. 
After the expulsion of the Jesuits, the trade seems 
to have declined greatly, partly, no doubt, from the 
exhaustion of the oyster-beds, but partly, also, from 
the mismanagement of the whole system adopted 
in its prosecution. 

When the pearl - fishery was prosecuted to its 
greatest extent, from six to eight hundred Indian 
divers, called “busos,” were employed. It was car¬ 
ried on by small vessels, of from fifteen to thirty 
tons burden, which were fitted out by private 
adventurers, and carried each from thirty to fifty 
divers. The owners accompanied the vessels, and 
carried with them provisions for the people, and a 
little money to advance them in the course of the 
season. The place of fitting out was at the port of 
Guaymas, on the opposite coast, and, when ready, 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


69 


they had to procure a license from the commandant- 
general of the province of Sonora, in which that 
port is situated. Being so provided, they made sail 
for the coast of California, and cast anchor on such 
banks as contained pearl-oysters, which banks are 
called “ placeres. ” The whole fishery, however, 
was not anciently carried on by vessels of the size 
above mentioned, and perhaps decked vessels were 
not at all then employed. The armadores went 
in launches, and the divers used canoes, bringing 
the oysters on shore for the purpose of opening 
them. This is evident from the large heaps of 
shells yet remaining in many spots. Numerous 
canoes are still attached to the larger vessels em¬ 
ployed at the present time. 

The manner of carrying on the fishery was as fol¬ 
lows. The vessel being anchored and everything 
ready, the divers plunged down in all directions, 
and dug up with a sharp-pointed stick as many 
oysters as possible while they could remain under 
water ; they then came up, took breath, and at the 
same time deposited the oysters in bags hung over 
the vessel’s sides. Having done this, they again 
plunged under water, repeating the same operation 
till the bags were full, or the usual time for work¬ 
ing expired ; they then all came on deck with the 
bags, and placed themselves in a circle round the 
owner, or, as he was called, the “ armador,” who 


70 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


took the contents of the whole bags, and made a 
division as follows: two oysters for the armador, 
two for the busos, and one for the king, — proceed¬ 
ing in this way till the whole of the oysters were 
disposed of. When this operation was concluded, 
they all began to open the oysters, beginning with 
those which fell to the lot of the armador, but with¬ 
out moving from the circle which they had formed 
round him, and he had then to watch with the 
utmost vigilance, for they had a dexterous knack 
of swallowing the most valuable pearls along with 
the live oyster, which they threw into their mouths 
by a kind of sleight of hand, which it was almost 
impossible to detect. The king’s fifth was then 
opened under the same precautions, and the pearls 
deposited in the presence of all. Lastly, the divers 
opened their own oysters, and the pearls were 
equally divided amongst them, and generally sold 
on the instant to the armador, to whom they were 
always indebted for their outfit and for previous 
advances. They, however, never failed to reserve 
some, which they sold to the dealers on shore, who 
always accompanied the busos, and who often made 
more money than the armadores. Those dealers 
carried with them spirituous liquors, chocolate, 
sugar, cigars, and other cheap articles, of which the 
Indians are passionately fond, and for which they 
often exchanged pearls of great value. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


71 


The season for carrying on the fishery is from 
the beginning of July till the beginning of October. 
The exact value of pearls produced while this busi¬ 
ness was prosperous cannot be now easily ascer¬ 
tained. It has been variously estimated. From 
documents supplied to Mr. Hardy in 1825, and pub¬ 
lished in his Travels in Mexico, it is stated, on the 
authority of Don Jose Maria Retes, that the num¬ 
ber of vessels employed annually on the fishery of 
Loreto was from six to eight, and the quantity of 
pearls from four to five pounds weight, worth from 
8 to 10,000 dollars. Captain- John Hall, an experi¬ 
enced navigator and trader in these seas, gives us 
some valuable information on this subject, about 
the same date. A letter of his is published in 
Mr. Hardy’s Travels; but we have obtained much 
further information from him on this and other 
matters touching California. He gives a somewhat 
different version of the mode of proceeding in the 
distribution of the oysters in the year 1825. He 
says, “ Every time the diver comes up, the largest 
oysters which he may bring with him are placed 
on one side for the Virgin. All the rest are then 
thrown into a large pile, and in the evening they 
are divided thus: eight shells are put on one side for 
the owners, eight on the other for the divers, and 
two in a third heap for the government.” It would 
thus appear that the present ruling powers are con- 


72 


LOWE R CALI FORNIA 


tented with one half the share of their predeces¬ 
sors. It is, however, somewhat curious, in these 
times, that the Virgin should retain her full privi¬ 
leges, if not an augmentation of them. Mr. 
Hardy says that about sixteen or eighteen small 
vessels are annually employed in the fishery, and 
obtain, when the weather has been favorable and 
the divers fortunate, about 500 dollars’ worth of 
pearls each, — sometimes as much as 1,000 dollars. 
He adds, however, that the expense of the fitting 
out and other contingencies reduce the net profits 
to the proprietors very considerably.* The follow¬ 
ing statement, kindly furnished me by a friend who 
resides on the spot, will show the extent and value 
of this fishery in the year 1831. 

This year, two vessels sailed on the pearl-fishery 
from the port of Guaymas, and other two from the 
river Yaqui, in its vicinity, as also two boats. The 
whole carried two hundred busos. The largest ves¬ 
sel had seventy; the next, fifty; the third, thirty; 
the fourth, also thirty ; and the boats, ten each. 
One vessel brought forty ounces of pearls, great 
and small, which were valued at 6,500 dollars; 
another, twenty-one ounces, valued at 3,000 dollars ; 
another, fifteen ounces, valued at 1,800 dollars; and 
the fourth, twelve ounces, valued at 2,000 dollars; 
— making the value, exclusive of the two boats, 


Travels in Mexico, p. 238. 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 73 

amount to 13,300 dollars, or about two thousand six 
hundred and sixty pounds, sterling. 

It has always been the popular opinion among 
the Spaniards that there were immensely rich banks 
of pearl-oysters on the shores of an island near 
the head of the gulf, called Tiburon, but that its 
inhabitants, who use poisoned arrows, were of such a 
savage disposition that no one could approach it with¬ 
out being sacrificed. This originated in, or at least 
was confirmed by, the circumstance of some people 
being killed near it, and, in consequence, the king 
of Spain, whose laws seemed always to be made on 
the supposition that none of his subjects had the 
power to risk his own life, or the common sense to 
judge when it was in danger, decreed that no one 
should hereafter approach that island for any pur¬ 
pose or on any pretext whatever. This interdict 
has been to the present time strictly obeyed; and 
although the Mexican republicans have thrown off 
the Spanish dominion, yet the dominion of early 
prejudice is not so easily got rid of, and conse¬ 
quently the island of Tiburon is still considered by 
the Mexican Spaniards as equally rich and perilous 
as heretofore, although recent visitors, and among 
others Mr. Hardy, have proved the risk and the 
riches to be equally apocryphal. 

The most remarkable incident in the recent his¬ 
tory of the pearl-fishery of California is the fact 


74 


LO WE R CALI FO R NIA 


of an association having been formed in London, in 
the year 1824 or 1825, for the express purpose of 
prosecuting it, under a new and improved system. 
The new company was termed the “ Pearl and Coral 
Fishery Association/’ and great expectations were 
entertained from the activity of the director, Lieut. 
Llardy, R. N., and the use of a diving-bell with which 
he was furnished. The employment of the diving- 
bell certainly, at first sight, seems to hold out a great 
prospect of success; and we learn from Humboldt 
that, long before the formation of this association, 
the same idea was entertained by the Mexicans 
themselves, and a project of this kind was started 
in 1803, by an ecclesiastic residing at the City of 
Mexico. He conceived, that, as the busos (divers) 
lose much time, and also injure their health, in their 
repeated descents and ascents, there would be im¬ 
mense benefits derived from taking advantage of 
the facilities afforded by the diving-bell for explor¬ 
ing the depths of the ocean. Furnished with a 
mask and a flexible tube, the diver, he conceived, 
would be enabled to explore not merely the space 
immediately below the bell, but all around it, as far 
as the length of the tube would permit. This tube 
was connected with the body of the bell, which not 
only acted as a reservoir for the supply of air, but 
also as a place of refuge or resort when the diver 
was exhausted. Humboldt says that he saw a 


LOWER CALIFORNIA 


75 


number of experiments made with this apparatus 
in a small lake or pond near the castle of Chapul- 
tepec, and remarks that it was, no doubt, the first 
time a diving-bell was constructed at a height of 
upwards of 7,000 feet above the level of the sea. 

It would appear that, subsequently, the priest, the 
maker of this diving-bell (which was made of wood), 
proceeded to California, and was reported to have 
realized, by means of it, a large fortune in a short 
period. We have, however, no authentic accounts 
of the expedition. The diving-bell of the London 
association was, we believe, not a whit more advan¬ 
tageous to the progress of pearl-fishing, or to the 
shareholders in London, than was that of the 
good padre, even if it had never left its native 
pond at Chapultepec. Some very ineffectual at¬ 
tempts seem to have been made, but not at all of 
a kind to decide the impracticability of such a plan 
of fishing, and we believe we may safely say that 
this problem remains still to be solved. 



PART II 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 



CHAPTER I 


FIRST SETTLEMENT OF UPPER CALIFORNIA BY THE 
FRANCISCANS.—HISTORY OF THE MISSIONS TO THE 
DEATH OF FATHER SERRA 

New or Upper California was discovered about the 
year 1542, by Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Spanish 
navigator, and the coast explored by him (or by his 
pilot, after his death) as far north as 43° or 44° N. 
lat. Part of the same coast, as formerly stated, was 
visited by Sir Francis Drake in 1578. He did not, 
however, touch so far to the southward as the coun¬ 
try now called California, although the whole of 
this coast has generally been called New Albion, 
the name given to it by Sir Francis. In 1582, the 
same coast was visited by Francisco Gali, and was, 
as we have already seen, more fully explored in 
1603 by Sebastian Vizcaino. Captain Cook’s discov¬ 
eries did not reach so far to the southward as even 
Drake’s, but the whole of the coast has been since 
visited and fully explored by other European navi¬ 
gators, besides Spaniards. The most distinguished 
of these, and who have published accounts of the 

79 


80 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


country, are, Laperouse, in 1786; Vancouver, in 1792; 
Langsdorff, in 1805; and Beechey, in 1826. All of 
these found the country completely settled by the 
Spaniards; and it is the object of the present chap¬ 
ter to give an account of how this settlement was 
first effected. On this occasion, as in the case of 
Old California, I shall also avail myself of the infor¬ 
mation supplied by an old Spanish, or rather Mexi¬ 
can, chronicler ; and here my authority is Father 
Francisco Palou, one of the original missionaries, 
and subsequently principal of the convent of San 
Fernando, in Mexico. The work of Father Palou 
was published in Mexico, in 1787. It gives a most 
minute account of the settlement, under the name of 
“A Life of the Chief Missionary Father Junipero 
Serra.” 

The expulsion of the Jesuits from Lower Califor¬ 
nia in 1767 seems to have attracted public attention 
more strongly to the countries of which it forms a 
part, and led to the determination of settling and 
civilizing the upper province. In the year fol¬ 
lowing, this settlement was finally resolved on by 
the Viceroy of Mexico, the Marques de Croix, and, 
as on former occasions, the enterprise was commit¬ 
ted to the care of the priesthood. Accordingly, in 
1768, Father Junipero Serra, a Franciscan friar, 
was nominated missionary president of Upper Cali¬ 
fornia, with a staff of sixteen brothers of his own 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 81 

order, all taken from the convent of San Fernando. 

Some of these friars were destined to replace the 

Jesuits in Lower California, and the remainder, 
together with their chief, to proceed to the “ spir¬ 
itual conquest'' of the upper province. Before 

proceeding with the detail of the humble proceed¬ 
ings of these good men, I would warn the reader 
here, as in the case of Lower California, that if 

he is prepared to estimate the importance of the 
history only according to the magnitude of the 
events or the dignity of the actors, he had better 
pass over the following narrative. To those, how¬ 
ever, who look below the surface of things, and 
who, in the pages of history, regard more the springs 
of action, the motives and conduct of the agents, 
than the grandeur of the results, and who study the 
influence of progressive events, however small, on 
the happiness of communities, “the short and simple 
annals" which I am about to trace will not be 
devoid of interest. 

The father-president having arrived at San Bias 
in the month of February, 1768, with his sixteen 
missionaries, they there met an equal number of 
Jesuits who had arrived from Lower California, 
whom they were to replace, and on the 12th March 
they sailed for Loreto, in the same vessel which 

brought the Jesuits. “This seraphic and apostolic 
6 g 


82 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


squadron (as Father Palou calls it), headed by the 
venerable Father Junipero Serra,” arrived at their 
destination, all well, on the first of April, and dis¬ 
persed themselves, each to his respective mission, to 
wait the arrival of the “ visitador - general,” Don 
Jose Galvez, who was soon to follow them. He 
arrived, and embarked at San Bias on the 24th of 
May following, but experienced such a bad voyage 
that he did not arrive at La Paz till the sixth of 
July, having been unable to make Loreto. Galvez 
not only brought orders to visit the missions of 
Lower California, but also a royal order to superin¬ 
tend the expeditions to be dispatched for Monterey 
and San Diego, in Upper California. Accordingly, 
after examining the situation of the different mis¬ 
sions in Lower California, and particularly those on 
its northern frontier, the visitador thought the best 
mode of putting the orders of the King into execu¬ 
tion would be to add to the projected expedition by 
sea, another by land, which, setting off at the same 
time, might join at San Diego, and there make the 
first establishment. This plan he communicated to 
the father-president, who fully approved of it, and 
offered to hold himself and a competent number of 
his brother missionaries ready when required. It 
was subsequently determined that three missions 
should be formed in Upper California; viz., one at 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


83 


the port of Monterey, another at the port of San 
Diego, and a third between those two ports, to be 
called San Buenaventura. 

Soon afterwards, two of the three packet-boats 
destined for this expedition arrived from San Bias,— 
one called the San Carlos, and the other the San 
Antonio. The former vessel having been put in a 
state fit for sea, the provisions and stores which had 
been brought from San Bias were put on board, as 
well as those collected in La Paz. There were also 
put on board agricultural implements, various seeds, 
both of Old and New Spain, and such other neces¬ 
saries as could be procured, and which they thought 
would be useful in the new country. It was at 
the same time resolved that the land expedition 
should take two hundred head of black cattle from 
the most northerly of the missions of Lower Cali¬ 
fornia, in order to stock the new establishments 
with that useful animal, and to enable them to cul¬ 
tivate the soil. 

The San Carlos being ready, the visitador-general 
fixed the day of her departure, and ordered that 
all should prepare themselves by means of the holy 
sacrament. This was accordingly done, and the rev¬ 
erend father-president, after saying the mass “ de 
rogativa ” to the most holy patriarch San Jose 
(whom they named patron of all the expeditions 
by sea and land), blessed the vessel and colors, and 


84 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


gave his benediction to all the people. The visi- 
tador then pronounced a long discourse, and, every¬ 
thing being embarked, they set sail on the 9th day 
of January, 1769. 

There were embarked in this vessel her com¬ 
mander, Don Vicente Vila, twenty-five soldiers of 
the Catalonian volunteers, with the Lieutenant Don 
Pedro Prat, surgeon in the royal navy, with a suffi¬ 
cient crew, and corresponding number of officers, 
accompanied, for their spiritual consolation, by the 
Father-Friar Fernando Parron. The San Antonio 
not having got higher up than Cape San Lucas, the 
visitador proceeded there on the sailing of the San 
Carlos ; and having examined and repaired her also, 
everything was embarked, and she made sail on 
the 15th of February of the same year. Her com¬ 
mander was Don Juan Perez, an able navigator, 
brought up in the Philippine trade. In her also went 
two father-missionaries, Friar Juan Vizcaino and 
Friar Francisco Gomez. The third vessel was called 
the San Jose, and was dispatched from Loreto on 
the 16th of June, the same year. Her commander’s 
name is not known, and the friar that was to 
have proceeded with her fell sick, so that none of 
the missionaries were on board. 

The fate of these vessels proves the deplorable 
state of navigation among the Spaniards in those 
seas at this period. The San Carlos arrived at San 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


85 


Diego on the first of May, and lost the whole of the 
people by the scurvy, thirst, and hunger, except the 
officers, the cook, and one seaman. The San An¬ 
tonio, although she sailed five weeks later, arrived 
on the eleventh of April, but lost eight of her crew 
by scurvy. The San Jose was never heard of after 
her leaving Loreto. 

The land expedition was set about with all pos¬ 
sible activity, and it appears that those worthy 
fathers and visitadores not only took their divinity 
from the Bible, but their military tactics also, for 
Father Palou relates, “that, considering the land 
expedition not less arduous and dangerous than that 
by sea, owing to the many savage and depraved 
tribes through which they had to pass, it was re¬ 
solved, in imitation of the patriarch Jacob, to divide 
it into two companies, in order that if one was 
unfortunate, the other might be saved. ” 

Don Gaspar de Portola, captain of dragoons, was 
appointed governor of California, and commander 
of the land expeditions; Captain Fernando Rivera y 
Moncada was nominated his second, and appointed 
to proceed with the first division. The governor 
was to follow with the second. Captain Rivera y 
Moncada and his people left Santa Ana, in Lower 
California, in the month of September, 1768, and, 
after a short time, arrived at the village of Nuestra 
Senora de los Angeles, which is on the Indian 


86 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


frontier, and where they met part of the baggage 
which had been sent in launches to the Bay of 
San Luis. Having examined the country, and 
found it incapable of maintaining even the cattle, 
from its entire want of pasture, they proceeded 
farther into the Indian territory, and at the distance 
of eighteen leagues, in the direction of San Diego, 
they found a place suited to their wants. The 
whole caravan was accordingly conducted thither. 
From this place the commander gave notice to the 
visitador, who was then in the south fitting out 
the vessels, that in the month of March he expected 
to be ready to continue [on] his route. Accordingly, 
they left this place, called by the natives Velicata, 
and proceeded on their destination on the twenty- 
fourth of March, 1769. This division consisted of 
its commander, Rivera y Moncada, Father Crespi, 
a midshipman, twenty-five soldiers, three mule¬ 
teers, and a number of converted Indians as ser¬ 
vants or assistants to the muleteers and for other 
purposes ; they were armed with bows and arrows. 
After having passed fifty-four days on their march 
without experiencing anything remarkable, they 
arrived at the port of San Diego on the fourteenth 
day of May, when they found at anchor the San 
Carlos and San Antonio. 

The mules, horses, black cattle, muleteers, and 
baggage, which were to accompany the second 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


87 


division being collected at Velicata, the governor 
and the father-president arrived there on the 
thirteenth of May. Being detained some time 
waiting the arrival of troops and necessaries, they 
took the opportunity to examine the neighborhood, 
and finding it superior to that of another mission 
not very distant, called San Francisco de Borja, and 
considering that it would be well calculated for a 
point of communication between Upper and Lower 
California, they resolved on removing the mission to 
that place. 

Father Palou thus describes the ceremony of 
taking possession: “This being determined on, and 
the day following being the fourteenth of May, the 
first of the Pascua of the Holy Ghost, they imme¬ 
diately set about taking possession of the soil in the 
name of our Catholic monarch, and thus laid the 
foundation of the mission. The soldiers, muleteers, 
and servants set about clearing away a place which 
was to serve as a temporary church, hanging the 
bells, and forming a grand cross. On the day 
following, they commenced the foundation. The 
venerable father-president, being invested with the 
capa and alba pluvial, blessed the holy water, and 
with this the site of the church, and then the holy 
cross, which, being adorned as usual, was planted in 
front of the church. The patron named for this 
church, and of the whole mission, was San Fer- 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


nando, the same name as that of our college in 
Mexico. Having chanted the first mass, the ven¬ 
erable president pronounced a most fervent dis¬ 
course on the coming of the Holy Spirit and the 
establishment of the mission. The sacrifice of the 
mass being concluded, the Veni Creator was then 
sung, the want of an organ and other musical 
instruments being (says Father Palou) supplied by 
the continual discharge of the fire-arms during the 
ceremony, and the want of incense, of which they 
had none, by the smoke of the muskets ! ” 

The second division, commanded by the Governor 
Portola, and accompanied by the president, com¬ 
menced its march from Velicata on the fifteenth of 
May, 1769. They followed the track of the Jesuit 
Wenceslaus Link, who went, three years before, tow¬ 
ards the Rio Colorado, to a place which he called 
Cieneguilla, distant from the new mission of San 
Fernando Velicata twenty-five leagues northward. 
From this place they pursued the same direction, 
with the view of finding the mouth of the Rio 
Colorado, but they were unable to arrive at it, on 
account of a rocky and steep mountain, which they 
reached after a few days, over which their cattle 
could not pass. This obliged them to return to the 

[San Francisco de Borja] 

frontier mission of San Borja, from which the expe¬ 
dition of Link had set out. They now changed their 
route to the northwest, and, approximating the 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


89 


coast of the Pacific, were soon enabled to find the 
port of which they were in search, and where they 
arrived on the first day of July, having spent forty- 
six days on their journey. 

The following letter, written by the president to 
his future biographer, Father Palou, will serve to 
explain their situation and views after they reached 
San Diego. 

“My dear Friend and Sir,—Thank God, I arrived 
the day before yesterday, the first of the month, at 
this port of San Diego, truly a fine one, and with 
reason called famous. Here I found those who had 
set off before me, both by sea and land, except those 
who have died. The brethren Fathers Crespi, Viz¬ 
caino, Parron, Gomez, are here, and, with myself, 
all well, thanks be to God. Here are also the two 
vessels, but the San Carlos without sailors, all having 
died of the scurvy, except two. The San Antonio, 
although she sailed a month and a half later, 
arrived twenty days before the San Carlos, losing on 
the voyage eight sailors. In consequence of this loss, 
it has been resolved that the San Antonio shall 
return to San Bias to fetch sailors for her and for 
the San Carlos. The causes of the delay of the San 
Carlos were, first, lack of water, owing to the casks 
being bad, which, together with bad water obtained 
on the coast, occasioned sickness among the crew; 
and secondly, the error which all were in respect- 


90 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


ing the situation of this port. They supposed it to 
be in thirty-three or thirty-four degrees of north lati¬ 
tude, some authors saying one, some the other, and 
strict orders were given to Captain Vila and the 
rest to keep out in the open sea till they should ar¬ 
rive in thirty-four degrees, and then make the shore 
in search of the port. As, however, the port, in 
reality, lies in 32° 34', according to the observations 
which have now been made, they went much be¬ 
yond the port, thus making the voyage much longer 
than was necessary. The people got daily worse 
from the cold and the bad water, and they must all 
have perished if they had not discovered the port 
about the time they did, for they were quite unable 
to launch the boat to procure more water, or to 
do anything whatever for their preservation. The 
Father Fernando did everything in his power to 
assist the sick, and although he arrived much re¬ 
duced in flesh, he had not the disorder, and is now 
well. We have not suffered hunger nor other pri¬ 
vations, neither have the Indians who came with 
us; all have arrived fat and healthy. The tract 
through which we have passed is generally very 
good land, with plenty of water, and there, as well 
as here, the country is neither rocky nor overcome 
with brushwood. There are, however, many hills, 
but they are composed of earth. The road has 
been in some places good, but the greater part bad. 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


91 


About half-way, the valleys and banks of rivulets 
began to be delightful. We found vines of a large 
size, and in some cases quite loaded with grapes ; 
we also found abundance of roses, which appeared 
to be like the same as those of Castile. In fine, it is 
a good country, and very different from that of Old 
California. We have seen Indians in immense 
numbers, and all those on this coast of the Pacific 
contrive to make a good subsistence on various 
seeds, and by fishing. This they carry on by 
means of rafts or canoes made of tule (bulrush), 
with which they go a great way to sea. They 
are very civil. All the males, old and young, 
go naked ; the women, however, and even the 
female children, are decently covered from their 
breasts downwards. We found, in our journey, 
as well as in the places where we stopped, that 
they treated us with as much confidence and peace 
as if they had known us all their lives ; but when 
we offered them any of our victuals, they always 
refused them. All they cared for was cloth, and 
only for something of this sort would they exchange 
their fish or whatever else they had. During the 
whole march we found hares, rabbits, some deer, 
and a multitude of berendos (a kind of wild goat). 
I pray God may preserve your health and life many 
years. 

“From this port and intended mission of San 


92 


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Diego, in northern California, 3rd July, 1769. I kiss 
the hands of your reverence, and am your affection¬ 
ate brother and servant, „ Fr JuNfpERO Se rra.” 

In consequence of what had before been deter¬ 
mined on, the San Antonio was dispatched on the 
9th July to San Bias, under the command of Perez, 
with what was reckoned a sufficient crew, but she 
arrived at that port with very few people, nine 
having died in the course of the voyage. It was 
now resolved that the principal part of the united 
expedition commanded by the governor should 
proceed overland from San Diego to the north¬ 
ward, to discover and settle the port of Monterey, 
and that the father-president should remain with 
two of the missionaries and eight soldiers. The 
fathers Juan Crespi and Francisco Gomez were 
named by him to accompany the expedition. The 
fourteenth day of July was fixed on for the depart¬ 
ure of this expedition, and the following persons 
nominated for the same: Don Gaspar Portola, com- 
mander-in-chief, with one servant; the two fathers 
before named, with two converted Indians of Lower 
California for their service; Don Fernando Rivera 
y Moncada, second in command, with a sergeant 
and twenty-six soldiers of his company; Don Pedro 
Fages, lieutenant of the Catalonia company, with 
seven of his soldiers who remained fit for the march; 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


93 


Don Miguel Costanso, engineer, and seven mule¬ 
teers, and fifteen Indians of Lower California, to 
assist in conducting the mules with the provisions 
and baggage. 

This expedition, after having been absent six 
months, returned to San Diego without finding the 
port of Monterey, or at least what they considered 
to be such, judging from the description given of it 
by Sebastian Vizcaino, although, in fact, they had 
visited this bay, but considered that it was either a 
different place or that the port had been filled up 
with sand. They proceeded on to the northward 
till they discovered the fine harbor now called San 
Francisco, to which they were induced to give that 
name from the following circumstances. When 
the president left Lower California, he took his 
orders from the visitador-general respecting the 
names of the new missions, and the patrons to be 
assigned them ; but observing that he did not point 
out any one which was to be that of the founder of 
the order, he exclaimed, “And is our Father San 
Francisco, to have no mission assigned to him?” 
The visitador replied, “ If San Francisco wishes to 
have a mission, let him show you a good port, and 
then let it bear his name.” The friars who accom¬ 
panied the Monterey expedition, as well as its com¬ 
mander, on seeing the fine bay at which they had 
arrived, exclaimed, “This is the port to which the 


94 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


visitador referred, and to which the saint has led 
us,” and immediately called it the Bay of San Fran¬ 
cisco. They then set up a cross, took possession, 
and proceeded on their return to San Diego, where 
they arrived on the 24th January, 1770. 

Whilst the governor and his companions were 
absent on the discovery of Monterey, the president 
was not idle at San Diego. His proceedings are 
thus described by his historian, Father Palou : 
“The zeal which burned in the breast of our ven¬ 
erable Father Junipero did not permit him to forget 
the principal object of his coming, and on the 
16th day of July he commenced the foundation of 
the mission by chanting a mass, and performing 
the other ceremonies which are expressed in the 
treaty of foundation of that of San Fernando. On 
this day the Spaniards are accustomed to celebrate 
the triumph of the Holy Cross, and it was hoped 
that as by that sacred signal they obtained, on this 
same day in the year 1212, the famous victory over 
the barbarous Mohammedans, they might obtain, by 
erecting the same standard, the discomfiture of the 
infernal army, and be enabled to subject to the easy 
yoke of our holy faith the barbarous gentiles who 
inhabit this California. 

“Having dedicated one of the huts which they had 
erected, as a church, they endeavored, by presents 
and affectionate expressions, to bring the natives 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


95 


towards it, who came within sight; but they paid 
no attention to anything, except to receive what¬ 
ever was offered them, except provisions ; but on 
no account would they touch any of our victuals, 
and on a bit of meat being forced into a child’s 
mouth, it spit it out as if it had been poison. This 
circumstance was considered as a miracle from 
Heaven ; for if they had been as desirous of provis¬ 
ions as they were of cloth, they would have left the 
strangers to have starved of hunger. Their desire 
for all sorts of cloth was extreme ; so much so, that 
the sails of the vessel in the bay were not safe, they 
having gone one night in their rush canoes and cut 
a large piece out of one of them. At length, pre¬ 
cautions were taken to prevent like acts; yet, as no 
punishment was inflicted, they proceeded to still 
greater lengths, and stole openly, confiding in their 
numbers, and being armed with bows and arrows, 
wooden swords which cut like steel, and clubs which 
are very formidable. And now finding that they 
were opposed, they resolved to try their fortune, 
and, by taking our lives, possess themselves of all 
our spoils. This they attempted to do on the 
twelfth and thirteenth of August, but were obliged 
to retire. On the fifteenth of this month, after the 
Father Fernando had gone on board to say mass, 
with two soldiers, four only remaining on shore, and 
our venerable president and Father Vizcaino hav- 


96 


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ing finished mass at the mission, there fell upon 
them a great number of Indians, all armed for 
war, who began to rob everything they could 
find, taking away from the sick even their sheets. 
The corporal immediately called out, To arms ; and 
when they saw the soldiers putting on their leather 
armor and taking their muskets, they retired a 
little and began to shoot their arrows. The four 
soldiers, the carpenter, and the blacksmith, also 
commenced firing with much valor, but particu¬ 
larly the blacksmith, who, although he had not 
armor to defend him, advanced, calling out, ‘ Long 
live the faith of Jesus Christ, and die the dogs his 
enemies.’ Whilst this was going on, the father- 
president with his companion went inside the house, 
recommending all to God, and praying that there 
should not result any deaths either among his own 
people or among the gentiles, and that the souls 
of the latter might not be lost, which otherwise 
would be saved by future baptism. 

“The war, however, still continued, accompanied 
by the terrible yells of the Indians, when a boy 
called Jose came running in great haste, and pros¬ 
trated himself at the feet of our venerable presi¬ 
dent, saying, ‘Father, give me absolution, for the 
Indians have killed me.’ The good father absolved 
him, and he died immediately, an arrow having 
passed through his throat, but his death was kept 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


97 


secret. Of the Indians, many fell, and the rest, 
seeing the destructive effect of the fire-arms, retired, 
carrying with them the whole of their dead and 
wounded, in order to prevent us from knowing their 
loss. They were enabled to conceal the deaths, but 
the number of wounded was soon known, because 
in a few days they returned in peace, requesting to 
be cured, which was done by our good surgeon. 
This charitable conduct on our part caused them to 
be somewhat grateful, and the sorrowful experience 
of their unsuccessful attack created fear and respect, 
which made them deport themselves differently from 
what they had hitherto done, and they still con¬ 
tinued to resist the mission, but without arms. Of 
the Christians, four were wounded, viz., the Friar 
Vizcaino, one soldier, an Indian of California, and 
the valiant blacksmith, but none of them danger¬ 
ously, so that in a short time all were well, and the 
death of the boy was concealed.” 

The following narrative, given by Father Palou, 
will show the importance the missionaries attached 
to the baptizing of the Indians, and the inconsola¬ 
ble disappointment which the good Father Junipero 
suffered by the caprice of the parents of one of the 
children. This was the first of the inhabitants of 
Upper California who had submitted to this cere¬ 
mony. 

“Of those who came oftenest amongst them was an 

H 


7 


98 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Indian of about fifteen years of age, who seldom let 
a day pass without coming, and he at last was in¬ 
duced to eat whatever was given him, without any 
fear. Our Father Junipero had a great desire to 
encourage him, and to teach him something of the 
Spanish language, to see if by this means he could 
accomplish the baptism of any of the youths. 
After some time, and when the Indian understood 
a little of the language, the venerable father desired 
him to try if he could bring a little one, with con¬ 
sent of its parents, to become a Christian, and told 
him to inform them, that, by allowing a little water 
to be put upon its head, it would become a son of 
God and of the Father Junipero, and also be of the 
kindred of the soldiers; that it would be clothed, 
and, in short, be equal to the Spaniards. The young 
man seemed to understand what was said to him, 
and, after going amongst the Indians, returned, ac¬ 
companied by a great many, one of whom brought 
a child in his arms, and made them understand, by 
signs, that he wished it to be baptized. Full of joy, 
our venerable father gave some clothes to cover 
the child, asked the corporal to be its godfather, 
desired the soldiers to attend the celebration of this 
first baptism, and also ordered that all the Indians 
should be present. When the president had finished 
the previous ceremonies, and was about to pour 
the water, the Indians suddenly snatched away the 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


99 


child, and immediately made off in great haste for 
their huts, leaving the good father in amazement, 
with the water in his hands. Here (says the Father 
Palou) all his prudence was necessary to enable him 
to hold his peace under such a gross action, and 
he was obliged to employ all his influence over the 
soldiers to prevent them from taking vengeance for 
the affront, but, on considering the barbarism and 
ignorance of those miserable beings, it was deemed 
necessary to dissemble their chagrin/’ Father Pa¬ 
lou adds, “that the feeling of the venerable father 
was such, seeing the baptism of this child so frus¬ 
trated, that for many days the sorrow and pain 
which he suffered might be discovered in his coun¬ 
tenance, his reverence attributing the conduct of 
the Indians to his own sins, and many years after¬ 
wards, when he related this circumstance, he had to 
wipe the tears from his eyes.” 

The country at this time did not furnish them 
sufficient provision for their subsistence, so that 
they had to depend on supplies from San Bias, to 
which place the San Antonio had been sent, but as 
she had not yet made her appearance, and it being 
apprehended that she was lost, the governor ordered 
an account of the provisions on hand to be taken, 
and found that they could not hold out longer than 
to the month of March following. He, in conse¬ 
quence, gave notice to the father - president that 


100 


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unless the vessel arrived with provisions by St. Jo¬ 
seph’s Day (the twentieth day of March), the whole 
expedition would set out on their return by land for 
Old California, and abandon entirely the enterprise 
of settling the new country. This notice afflicted 
the good Father Junipero in the most sensible man¬ 
ner, who, according to his biographer, “finding no 
other resource but in God, had recourse to prayer, 
asking in the most earnest manner that he would 
have compassion on so many gentiles whom they 
had discovered, and not allow their labors to be 
in vain, seeing that if they were to abandon the 
present enterprise, the conversion of those Indians 
would be left to an indefinite time, and perhaps 
abandoned forever. At the same time, the father 
fully resolved not to accompany the expedition back, 
but to remain with some of his companions, and 
sacrifice himself for the love of God and for the 
advancement of his glory.” The eventful day at last 
arrived, and was celebrated by the chanting of the 
mass, and by every other mode of solemnizing it 
which their circumstances permitted. The father- 
president preached a sermon, and every preparation 
was made for the departure of the expedition the 
following morning ; but on this very day (says 
Palou ) “ God was pleased to satisfy the ardent 
desires of his servant, through the intercessions of 
the most holy patriarch, and gave every one the 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


101 


consolation to perceive clearly and distinctly a ves¬ 
sel/’ which, however, disappeared next day. This 
sight of the vessel was sufficient to delay the depart¬ 
ure of the expedition, every one viewing it as a 
miracle of the patriarch saint, and which animated 
them to remain some time longer, not doubting that 
this was, if not the San Antonio herself, at least a 
sure presage of her speedy arrival. This, in effect, 
happened four days after, it being the identical San 
Antonio which was seen on the day of St. Joseph, 
and which was prevented from entering the harbor 
from those casualties so common in sea voyages. 
The father-president made a vow to celebrate this 
miracle by an annual mass on the day of St. Joseph, 
which he religiously performed to the end of his life. 

On the arrival of the San Antonio, which brought 
a supply of provisions, it was determined to make 
another effort to discover Monterey, for which pur¬ 
pose Father Junipero proceeded by sea, in the San 
Antonio, and the governor by land, accompanied by 
Father Crespi. Both left San Diego about the 
middle of April, 1770, and, after forty-six days’ navi¬ 
gation, the San Antonio anchored in the Bay of 
Monterey, the land expedition having arrived some 
days before. Nothing can show more strikingly the 
backwardness of nautical science at this time among 
the Spanish navigators, than the fact that this coast¬ 
ing voyage of a few degrees took up forty-six days; 


102 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


in the present day it would be no miracle for a 
vessel to sail between San Diego and China in the 
same space of time. 

The following is the letter of the president to Father 
Palou on taking possession of the future capital of 
the dominions over which he was to preside. 

“ My dearest Friend and Sir, — On the 31st day 
of May, by the favor of God, after rather a painful 
voyage of a month and a half, this packet San An¬ 
tonio, commanded by Don Juan Perez, arrived and 
anchored in this horrible port of Monterey, which 
is unaltered in any degree from what it was when 
visited by the expedition of Don Sebastian Vizcaino 
in the year 1603. It gave me great consolation to 
find that the land expedition had arrived eight days 
before us, and that Father Crespi and all others 
were in good health. On the third of June, being 
the holy day of Pentecost, the whole of the officers 
of sea and land, and all the people, assembled on a 
bank at the foot of an oak, where, we caused an altar 
to be erected and the bells to be rung. We then 
chanted the Veni Creator , blessed the water, 
erected and blessed a grand cross, hoisted the 
royal standard, and chanted the first mass that was 
ever performed in this place. We afterwards sang 
the *Salve to Our Lady, before an image of the 
most illustrious Virgin, which occupied the altar; 
and at the same time I preached a sermon, con- 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


103 


eluding the whole with a Te Deum. After this, the 
officers took possession of the country in the name 
of the King, our lord (whom God preserve). We 
then all dined together in a shady place on the 
beach, the whole ceremony being accompanied 
by many volleys and salutes by the troops and 
vessels. ’ ’ 

The concluding part of this epistle may not be 
thought the least interesting, as it will show that 
while men of an ordinary education would only 
have thought of their own personal situation and 
present difficulties, and of asking for assistance to 
help them out of them, the pious Franciscan only 
meditated on popes, saints, and calendars. He con¬ 
tinues : “As in last May it is a whole year since I 
have received any letter from a Christian country, 
your reverence may suppose in what want we are 
of news; but, for all that, I only ask you, when you 
can get an opportunity, to inform me what our most 
holy father the reigning Pope is called, that I may 
put his name in the canon of the mass ; also, to 
say if the canonization of the beatified Jose Cu¬ 
pertino and Serafino Asculi has taken place, and 
if there is any other beatified one, or saint, in order 
that I may put them in the calendar and pray to 
them, we having, it would appear, taken our leave 
of all printed calendars. Tell me also if it is true 
that the Indians have killed Father Jose Soler in 


104 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Sonora, and how it happened, and if there are 
any other friends defunct, in order that I may com¬ 
mend them to God, with anything else that your 
reverence may think fit to communicate to a few 
poor hermits separated from human society. We 
proceed to-morrow to celebrate the feast and make 
the procession of Corpus Christi (although in a very 
poor manner), in order to scare away whatever little 
devils (diablillos) there possibly may be in this land. 
I kiss the hands, &c. « Fr JuN , pER0 Se rra.” 


They then proceeded to found the mission of 
Monterey and to construct a chapel ; but the In¬ 
dians were so terrified by the noise made at the 
celebration of the first mass, and by the firing of the 
artillery and muskets, that it was a considerable 
time before they ventured again to approach the 
strangers. It was not till the 26th of December 
that the first baptism of the Indians was celebrated at 
Monterey, which, however, turned out better than 
the first essay at San Diego, and filled the pious mind 
of Father Junipero with inexpressible pleasure. Fie 
afterwards boasts that in three years this mission 
had 175 baptized Indians ; which is a proof of how 
slowly savages admit of civilization or receive a 
new religion, however fervently practiced or perse- 
veringly advocated. 

It was soon found that the first place selected for 


















The Bay of Monterey, Upper California 











UPPER CALIFORNIA 


105 


the mission was inconvenient; they therefore moved 
it to the borders of the river Carmelo, its present 
situation. The San Antonio being detained for 
some time, the father-president was enabled to 
examine the adjoining country, and finding many 
Indians, and good situations for establishing more 
missions, he wrote to the chief of the college of 
San Fernando, in Mexico, that although a hundred 
missionaries more were sent, there would be employ¬ 
ment for them all. 

In consequence of this favorable report of the 
promising appearances of the new country, the 
Viceroy, in concert with the college of San Fer¬ 
nando, ordered thirty missionaries to proceed from 
Mexico to San Bias,—ten for Upper and twenty for 
Lower California, — and provided them with sacred 
vessels and ornaments for the churches, and also 
with ten thousand dollars in money, to enable the 
father-president to form the other missions which 
he had projected. Orders were given to have two 
vessels ready at San Bias for the conveyance of the 
missionaries and their effects; viz., the San Antonio, 
with the ten missionaries destined for Upper Cali¬ 
fornia, and the San Carlos, with the twenty for 
Lower California. The San Antonio left San Bias 
on the second of January, 1771, and arrived at San 
Diego on the twelfth of March, all on board 
affected with the scurvy. The missionaries then 


106 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


proceeded overland to Monterey. The mission¬ 
aries who embarked for Loreto had much worse 
fortune than their brethren ; for, although Lo¬ 
reto is but a few days’ voyage from San Bias, 
within the gulf, and the transit subject to no 
peril whatever, yet it so happened that the unlucky 
San Carlos, instead of proceeding up the Gulf of 
California northerly, was driven, as they reported, 
by winds and currents, southerly to Acapulco. Nor 
was this all : the captain of this vessel, after having 
allowed himself, at the best season of the year, and 
on a sea the most placid in the world, to be carried 
— one can hardly suppose how — so far south, put 
into a port on the coast, called Manzanilla, now well 
known as a good one, got his vessel on shore, and 
gave notice to the Viceroy of Mexico that he could 
not proceed on his voyage ! The poor friars, being 
now left to shift for themselves, resolved to proceed 
overland, a distance of not less than twelve hun¬ 
dred miles, and along a coast without roads, with¬ 
out inhabitants, and abounding in all manner of 
hardships and dangers, as well as being remarkable 
for its insalubrity. This journey they actually per¬ 
formed, and marched along the shore of the Pacific 
and the Gulf of California till they arrived opposite 
to Loreto, and then passed over to that place. 

The captain, in the mean time, got positive orders 
from Mexico to repair his vessel and proceed on his 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


107 


voyage. He at length sailed from Manzanilla, and, 
after many difficulties, arrived at Loreto on the thir¬ 
teenth of August, extending the voyage to eight 
months, which is now usually made in five or six 
days ! 

By the arrival of the new missionaries in Upper 
California, the father-president was enabled to ex¬ 
tend his operations, and proceeded to found the 
mission of San Antonio de Padua, in the hills of 
Santa Lucia, distant from the coast of the Pacific 
about eight leagues, and about twenty from Mon¬ 
terey. Some time after the establishment of this 
mission, we are told by our authority that so severe 
a frost took place on the first day of the Pascua of the 
resurrection, in the year 1780, that a field of wheat, 
which was shot and in flower, became as dry and 
withered as if it had been stubble left in the field 
in the month of August. This was regarded as a 
great misfortune by the Indians, and still more by 
the fathers, they knowing better the great loss to the 
mission from the want of food. It became neces¬ 
sary to send the converts to the woods to collect 
seeds and fruits for their subsistence, in the manner 
they had been accustomed to do before their conver¬ 
sion. The fathers, however, (says Palou,) encour- 
aging their faith, and confiding in the patronage 
of San Antonio, invited the new Christians to cele¬ 
brate the novena of this saint. At the same time, 


108 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


they ordered the frosted field to be artificially irri¬ 
gated with water, and in a few days the fresh 
blades were seen springing from the roots of the 
former stalks, so that at the end of the novena the 
field was perfectly green. The watering was con¬ 
tinued, and the wheat grew so rapidly that in fifty 
days the new wheat was as high as the former had 
been, and in full bloom; it filled well, and was ripe 
at the same time as in former years, giving such an 
abundant harvest and such fine grain as was never 
before experienced. “The fathers, (continues Pa- 
lou,) as well as the Indians, acknowledged this to 
be a special miracle which the Lord deigned to work 
in their favor by the interposition of the holy 
patron, San Antonio, and rendered him their most 
affectionate thanks accordingly/ ’ Some less faith¬ 
ful than our good fathers and their humble converts 
may doubt whether San Antonio or the water, with 
the rays of a summer’s sun, had the greatest merit 
in this miracle; but it may be granted on all hands, 
that the prodigy had the excellent effects which the 
friars deduced from it, viz., that it encouraged new 
converts to come to them and saved them from the 
threatened famine. 

Soon after the settlement of San Antonio, the 
establishment of San Gabriel was determined on, 
and missionaries, with soldiers, were dispatched from 
San Diego for that purpose. The following is the 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 109 

miraculous account given of this expedition by 
Father Palou. 

“On the tenth of August, the Father-Friar Pedro 
Cambon and Father Angel Somera, guarded by ten 
soldiers, with the muleteers and beasts requisite to 
carry the necessaries, set out from San Diego, and 
traveled northerly by the same route as the former 
expedition for Monterey had gone. After proceed¬ 
ing about forty leagues, they arrived at the river 

[Jesus de los Temblores] 

called Temblores, and while they were in the act 
of examining the ground in order to fix a proper 
place for the mission, a multitude of Indians, all 
armed, and headed by two captains, presented them¬ 
selves, setting up horrid yells, and seeming determined 
to oppose the establishment of the mission. The 
fathers, fearing that war would ensue, took out a 
piece of cloth with the image of Nuestra Senora de los 
Dolores, and held it up to the view of the barbarians. 
This was no sooner done than the whole were quiet, 
being subdued by the sight of this most precious 
image, and, throwing on the ground their bows and 
arrows, the two captains came running with great 
haste to lay the beads which they brought about their 
necks at the feet of the sovereign queen, as a proof 
of their entire regard, manifesting, at the same time, 
that they wished to be at peace with us. They 
then informed the whole of the neighborhood of 
what had taken place, and the people,' in large 


110 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


numbers,—men, women, and children,—soon came to 
see the Holy Virgin, bringing food, which they put 
before her, thinking she required to eat as others. 
In this manner (continues our historian), the gentiles 
of the mission of San Gabriel were so entirely 
changed that they frequented the establishment with¬ 
out reserve, and hardly knew how much to mani¬ 
fest their pleasure that the Spaniards had come to 
settle in their country. Under those favorable aus¬ 
pices the fathers proceeded to found the mission with 
the accustomed ceremonies, and celebrated the first 
mass under a tree, on the nativity of the Virgin, 
the eighth of September, 1771.” 

After the settlement of San Gabriel, which was 
the fourth, and is now one of the richest, missions 
of California, the missionaries found that neither 
their numbers nor their means enabled them to com¬ 
mence others, and they continued doing all in their 
power to improve those they had already estab¬ 
lished. The following letter from Father Junipero, 
dated so late as the eighth of August, 1772, shows 
that their situation was not the most comfortable, 
nor their progress very much advanced, although 
they had been more than three years in the coun¬ 
try. 

4 ‘ My dear Friend and Sir, — Thanks be to God, I 
am in good health ; and hunger, which in this 
country mortifies and has mortified many poor peo- 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


111 


pie, has not been felt either by me or the fathers, 
my fellows. There is no fear of being under the 
necessity of abandoning any of the missions now 
established. The people are chiefly maintained by 
the Indians, and they live God knows how. The 
milk of the cows and the vegetables of the garden 
have been two great sources of subsistence for these 
establishments. Both begin, however, now to get 
scarce ; but it is not for this I feel mortified : it is 
because we have not been able to go on with other 
missions. All of us feel the vexatious troubles and 
obstacles which we have to encounter, but no one 
thinks of leaving his mission, or desires to do so. 
The consolation is, that, troubles or no troubles, 
there are various souls in heaven from Monterey, 
San Antonio, and San Diego. From San Gabriel 
there are none as yet, but there are among those 
Indians many who praise God, and whose holy name 
is in their mouths more frequently than in that of 
many old Christians; yet some think that from mild 
lambs, which they are at present, they will return 
one day to be lions and tigers. This may be so if, 
God permits; but we have three years of experience 
with those of Monterey, and with those of San An¬ 
tonio two years, and they appear better every day. 
If all are not already Christians, it is, in my opinion, 
only owing to our want of understanding the lan¬ 
guage. This is a trouble which is not new to me ; 


112 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


and I have always imagined that my sins have not 
permitted me to possess this faculty of learning 
strange tongues, which is a great misfortune in a 
country such as this, where no interpreter or master 
of languages can be had until some of the natives 
learn Spanish, which requires a long time. At San 
Diego they have already overcome this difficulty. 
They now baptize adults and celebrate marriages, 
and we are here approximating the same point. 
We have begun to explain to the youth in Spanish; 
and if they could return us a little assistance in 
another way, we should in a short time care little 
about the arrival of the vessels, as far as respects 
provisions ; but as affairs stand at present, the 
missions cannot much advance. Upon the whole, 
I confide in God, who must remedy all.' , 

After begging of his friend to procure more mis¬ 
sionaries to be sent, he proceeds : — 

“ Let those who come here come well provided 
with patience and charity, and let them pass on in 
good humor, for they may become rich,— I mean 
in troubles, — but where will the laboring ox go, 
where he must not draw the plow ? and if he do 
not draw the plow, how can there be an harvest ?” 

Having now formed four missions, the father- 
president resolved on returning to Mexico, and 
for that purpose set out for San Diego, where he 
intended to embark. On his way to that place, he 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 113 

founded another mission, which he called San Luis 
Obispo de Tolosa; and having visited that of San 
Gabriel, being the only one he had not seen, he 
proceeded to San Diego, where he embarked in the 
packet-boat San Carlos on the twentieth of October, 
and arrived at San Bias on the fourth of Novem¬ 
ber, 1772. 

On his arrival in Mexico, which was on the sixth 
of February following, he found that the Viceroy 
Bucareli had determined to withdraw the marine 
establishment from San Bias, and to abandon that 
port; but Father Junipero represented to him that 
this was the only place from which a communication 
could be kept up with California, and so fully im¬ 
pressed him with the importance of the new missions, 
that he not only consented to continue the establish¬ 
ment at San Bias, but also ordered a frigate, which 
had been begun to be built there, to be finished for 
the purpose of exploring the coast of Upper Cali¬ 
fornia, and in the mean time gave orders for one 
of the packet-boats to be dispatched to Monterey 
with provisions. This packet-boat, with the usual 
mishap attending all their sea voyages, in place of 
making Monterey, was driven up the gulf, and 
reached Loreto with the loss of her rudder, and 
otherwise so much damaged that she could not 
again proceed on her voyage, by which accident the 

missions were nearly all starved, and the whole 
8 i 


114 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


fathers, soldiers, and converts were obliged to subsist 
chiefly on milk for eight months. 

Having obtained all his demands, the father- 
president left the city of Mexico in September, 1773, 
with various missionaries, officers, and soldiers, as 
also a grant of necessaries, consisting of maize, 
beans, flour, and clothing, to the value of above 
twelve thousand dollars; and by his recommenda¬ 
tion an expedition was ordered to proceed by the 
rivers Gila and Colorado, and to discover a passage 
by that route for the purpose of keeping up a com¬ 
munication by land, and thus avoid the misfortunes 
which had always befallen their expeditions by sea. 
Captain Juan Bautista Anza, commandant of Tubac, 
in the province of Sonora, was appointed to this land 
expedition, and eventually arrived safe at Monterey. 
Father Junipero proceeded to San Bias in January. 
He divided the-supplies between the packet-boat San 
Antonio and the new frigate, and embarked in the 
latter himself. She was called the Santiago of [or] 
Nueva Galicia, and commanded by his friend Don 
Juan Perez. Although they were bound direct to 
Monterey, yet from some of those fatalities which 
never ceased to attend them, they were obliged to 
put into San Diego, where they arrived on the 
thirteenth of March, after a passage of forty-nine 
days. The frigate afterwards pursued her voyage 
to Monterey, but Father Junipero chose to go over¬ 
land for the purpose of visiting the other missions, 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


115 


and on his way met Captain Anza, who had, as 
before stated, passed overland from Sonora, and who 
informed him that it was practicable to open a com¬ 
munication by the route he had come, and that, ac¬ 
cording to his orders from the Viceroy, he was about 
to take measures for establishing this communication. 

Anza here also informed the president of the 
deplorable state in which Monterey was from the 
want of provisions; that “there was not so much 
as a cup of chocolate to enable them to break their 
fast,”—a privation, of all others the most insufferable 
to a Mexican Spaniard, to whom chocolate is one 
of the most indispensable necessaries of life. The 
Captain added that they were reduced to live entirely 
on milk and herbs, without bread, or any other thing 
whatever. This relation made the good father shed 
tears, and he made all possible haste to arrive with 
the succors he had with him. He arrived on the 
eleventh of May, and found that the frigate had 
been there two days before him. The father-presi¬ 
dent was received at Monterey with the greatest dem¬ 
onstration of joy, and plenty once more appeared 
amongst them. 

The frigate, after remaining at Monterey till the 
eleventh of June, sailed, in conformity with the 
instructions of the Viceroy, in order to make dis¬ 
coveries on the northwest coast. She proceeded as 
far as fifty-five degrees north, when she discovered 


116 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


an inlet, which they named Santa Margarita, and 
without seeming to have done anything else, they 
returned to Monterey, where they arrived on the 
twenty - seventh of August of the same year. A 
second voyage was afterwards made from San Bias 
by the same frigate, under the command of Don 
Bruno de Heceta, a captain in the royal navy, who 
took with him, as his second in command, the same 
Don Juan Perez who commanded the previous expe¬ 
dition. The frigate was accompanied by a schooner 
commanded by Don Juan Francisco de la Bodega, 
the future friend of Vancouver, and who was so 
well known on this coast. This expedition sailed 
from San Bias in the middle of March, 1775. They 
proceeded to the northward, surveying the coast to 
forty-seven degrees of north latitude, when they 
lost sight of the schooner in a gale of wind on the 
thirtieth of July. The frigate, however, continued 
to coast northward till they arrived about the same 
latitude as in the last voyage ; and having again 
returned to the forty-ninth degree, they held a con¬ 
sultation of officers on the eleventh of August, and 
it was resolved, in consequence of the greater part of 
the crew being ill of the scurvy, and the advanced 
state of the season, to return along shore and to 
look out for the schooner. This plan was adopted, 
and they arrived at Monterey on the twenty-ninth of 
August, with almost all the sailors ill of the scurvy. 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


117 


They here found the schooner, which had safely 
arrived some time before them. 

After receiving the account of this expedition, the 
Viceroy Bucareli determined to set on foot a third, 
and for that purpose ordered a frigate to be built at 
San Bias, and also sent a lieutenant of the navy to 
Peru to purchase a vessel to accompany the frigate. 
The new frigate was named the Princesa, and the 
ship purchased in Peru the Favorita. They were 
ordered to be got ready with all haste, and the 
Viceroy gave directions to put on board everything 
necessary for a voyage of one year, with a sufficient 
crew, and complement of marines. Don Ignacio 
Arteaga was appointed to command the squadron, 
and two missionaries from the convent of San Fer¬ 
nando accompanied him. These two vessels sailed 
from San Bias on the twelfth of February, 1779, 
and as Don Juan Perez had died at sea on the for¬ 
mer voyage, they took another pilot in his stead. 
The chief object of the expedition was said to be 
to discover a passage to the North Atlantic. Noth¬ 
ing worthy of notice happened till they arrived at 
fifty-five degrees of north latitude, on the third of 
June, when they entered a strait, which they called 
the Strait of Bucareli. Here they occupied them¬ 
selves in looking for a passage to the eastward till 
the first of July, when they proceeded to the north¬ 
ward, and were in about sixty degrees of north 


118 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


latitude on the first of August, and here, they say, 
they found a large port, quite secure, and well pro¬ 
vided with wood and water, as well as abundance 
of fish. This they took possession of and named 
Santiago. It is supposed to be what is now called 
Cook’s Inlet. Finding an arm branching off to 
the northward, and appearing to run far inland, the 
commander dispatched an armed launch, with an 
officer and a pilot, to examine it, but, after passing 
up this creek for some days, the launch returned 
without seeing any appearance of its termination, 
the crew, however, bringing with them some natives 
from the interior of the bay. The commander did 
not proceed farther in this survey, but, as there were 
many sick, resolved, as the season was far advanced, 
and the equinox near, not to make any more sur¬ 
veys, but to consider his labors as concluded. He 
accordingly desired the pilots to make for some of 
the new settlements in California, where he might 
cure the sick and pass the equinox. Thereupon 

[San Francisco] 

they stood for the port of San Fernando, which they 
reached on the fifteenth of September, 1779, when 
the usual masses and other religious ceremonies 
were performed to celebrate the happy issue of this 
adventurous voyage. 

I have gone before the order of time for the pur¬ 
pose of giving a connected account of these voyages 
to the northwest, but I wish only to notice them in 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


119 


as far as they relate to the establishments of Cali¬ 
fornia. It is sufficient to look at the dates and the 
time employed on those voyages to show that little 
could be added by them to nautical science or dis¬ 
covery. Modern voyagers know that the summer 
weather continues in those latitudes long after the 
time the Spaniards considered it as concluded, and 
it would not nowadays be thought very enterprising 
if any of our commanders gave up his discoveries 
in the northern regions at the end of August ! 
But the president and Commandant Arteaga, whose 
apprehensions of the equinox overcame his faith 
in the protection of Nuestra Senora de la Regia, 
thought it best to return in time, and found 
himself safely anchored in San Francisco on the 
fifteenth of September, seven days before the justly 
dreaded time of the sun’s passing the line. 

With the supply of provisions and other neces¬ 
saries which the president brought from Mexico, 
the missionaries recommenced their labors with 
much vigor, and had a corresponding success in the 
conversion of the natives and the establishment of 
new missions ; but in the following year an occur¬ 
rence took place, which was considered of great 
importance, being no less than the attack of San 
Diego and the assassination of one of the mission¬ 
aries by the natives. This affair is related by 
Father Palou with great unction and becoming 


120 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


gravity. “In proportion (says he) as the fathers and 
the new Christians were full of joy and peace, 
the discontent of the great enemy of souls was 
increased : his infernal fury could not suffer him 
to see that in the neighborhood of San Diego his 
party of gentiles was coming to a close, so many 
being brought over to our true religion by means 
of the ardent zeal of the ministers, and the more 
particularly as they were about to plant another 
mission between San Gabriel and San Diego, which 
would effect the same with the Indians in that dis¬ 
trict, over which he still had the power, and which 
would, of course, diminish his party. He therefore 
bethought himself of some means not only of pre¬ 
venting this new establishment, but of destroying 
that of San Diego, which was the oldest of the 
whole, and so revenge himself on the missionaries, 
his opponents. In order to accomplish these diaboli¬ 
cal intentions, he availed himself of two converts from 
among those who had been some time baptized, who, 
after the feast of San Francisco, went amongst the 
Indians, publishing that the fathers intended to put 
an end to the gentiles, and to make them become 
Christians by force; and in proof of this, desired 
them to consider how many had already been bap¬ 
tized. Although many doubted, yet the greater part 
believed the story of those apostates ; and the 
Devil having so disposed them, he engendered in 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


121 


their breast the passion of anger against the fathers, 
and with this disposition they formed the cruel 
intention of taking away their lives, as also to kill 
the soldiers, set fire to the mission, and so destroy 
the whole. Nothing of this was known at San 
Diego, nor was any such plot in the least appre¬ 
hended ; for although a sergeant and some soldiers 
were sent in search of the two converts who 
went away without leave, yet the only account they 
received was, that they had gone a long way inland, 
towards the river Colorado, and nothing was observed 
among the Indians which indicated war, but what 
soon happened shows their intentions, which, how¬ 
ever, they concealed with great art. More than 
a thousand Indians collected from different places 
and divided themselves in two parties, one to attack 
the mission, and the other the presidio, where 
the soldiers were quartered. They intended to 
set fire to both at the same time, and to kill all 
the people ; on which wicked design they set out, 
armed with bows and arrows, spears and clubs. 

“They arrived at the bed of the river on the 
night of the fourth of November, whence the two 
divisions took their respective routes, — the one for 
the presidio and the other for the mission. The 
party destined for the latter arrived at the huts of 
the converts without being observed, putting some 
Indians as guards to prevent the inmates from 


122 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


going out or giving any alarm, and threatening them 
with death if they attempted to do so. Some then 
proceeded to the church and sacristy for the purpose 
of robbing the ornaments, vestments, and whatever 
else they might find, while others laid hold of 
lights and endeavored to set the quarters of the 
soldiers on fire. These, who consisted only of a 
corporal and three men, were soon awakened 
by the horrid yells of the Indians, and im¬ 
mediately armed themselves, the Indians having 
already begun to discharge their arrows. The 
Father Vicente joined the soldiers, together with 
two boys. The Father Luis, who slept in a sepa¬ 
rate apartment, on hearing the noise, went towards 
the Indians, and, on approaching them, made use 
of the usual salutation, ‘Amar a Dios, hijos/ (Love 
God, my children,) when, observing it was the father, 
they laid hold of him as a wolf would lay hold of 
a lamb, and carried him to the side of the rivulet. 
There they tore off his holy habit, commenced 
giving him blows with their clubs, and discharged 
innumerable arrows at him. Not contented with 
taking away his life with so much fury, they beat 
and cut to pieces his face, head, and the whole of 
his body, so that from head to foot nothing remained 
whole, except his consecrated hands, which were 
found entire in the place where he was murdered. 

“Meanwhile others of the Indians proceeded to 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 123 

the place where two carpenters and the blacksmith 
were sleeping, and who were awakened by the noise. 
The blacksmith ran out with his sword in hand, 
but was immediately shot dead with an arrow. One 
of the carpenters followed with a loaded musket 
and shot some of the Indians, who were so much 
intimidated that he was allowed to join the soldiers. 
The other carpenter, who was ill, was killed in bed 
by an arrow. The chief body of the Indians now 
engaged the soldiers, who made such good use of 
their fire-arms, by killing some and wounding others, 
that the Indians began to waver, but they at last 
set fire to the quarters of the Spaniards, which were 
only of wood, and who, in order to avoid being 
roasted alive, valiantly sallied forth and took posses¬ 
sion of another small hut, which had served for a 
kitchen, and which was constructed of dried bricks. 
The walls, however, were little more than a yard in 
height, and only covered with branches of trees and 
leaves to keep out the sun. They defended them¬ 
selves by keeping up a continual fire upon the 
multitude, who, however, annoyed them much with 
their arrows and wooden spears, more particularly 
at one side of the hut, which was without a wall. 
Seeing the damage that, by this means, they were 
suffering, the soldiers resolved to take out of the 
house, that was on fire, some bales to fill up the 
open part of the kitchen. In doing this, two of 


124 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


them were wounded, and disabled from giving any 
more assistance, but they succeeded in fetching the 
bales, and filling up the breach with them. There 
then only remained the corporal, one soldier, the 
carpenter, and the Father Vicente. The corporal, 
who was of great valor, and a good marksman, 
ordered that the others should load and prime the 
muskets, he only firing them off, by which method 
he killed or wounded as many as approached him. 
The Indians, now seeing that their arrows were of 
no avail owing to the defense of the walls and bales, 
set fire to the covering of the kitchen, but, as the 
materials were very slight, the corporal and his com¬ 
panions were still enabled to keep their position. 
They were greatly afraid lest their powder should 
be set on fire, and this would have been the case 
if Father Vicente had not taken the precaution to 
cover it over with the skirt of his habit, which he 
did in disregard of the risk he ran of being blown 
up. The Indians, finding that this mode of attack 
did not oblige their opponents to leave their fort, 
commenced throwing in burning faggots and stones, 
by which Father Vicente was wounded, but not 
very dangerously. The whole night passed in this 
manner, till, on the rising of the sun, the Indians 
gave up the contest, and retired, carrying off all 
their killed and wounded. The whole of the de¬ 
fenders of the kitchen-fort were wounded, the 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


125 


corporal concealing his injuries until the Indians 
had retired, in order to avoid discouraging his 
companions.” 

I have given the description of this contest at 
full length, and in the language of the Franciscan 
historian, in order to show that a battle, when the 
forces on one side only consisted of three soldiers, 
commanded by a corporal, may be made nearly as 
much of on paper as when mighty armies meet. 
The account of the defense of the kitchen-fort is 
given with as much gravity and circumstantiality 
as if the narrative were of one of Napoleon's vic¬ 
tories ; and it must be confessed that the issue was 
as important to the individuals engaged in this 
Lilliputian combat as was the result of Austerlitz or 
Lodi to their victor. It is also worthy of record 
as being the most serious attempt to obstruct the 
Spanish missionaries in their spiritual conquest of 
California ; and it may in some degree account 
for the apparently miraculous conquests of the 
Spaniards in Mexico and Peru, in former times, by 
proving how superior the European, with his musket 
and his gunpowder, is to the feeble and unskillful 
Indian with his bow and arrow. 

On hearing of the misfortune which befell San 
Diego, the father-president, who was then at Monte¬ 
rey, resolved to proceed to that mission, but was 
not able to accomplish his design till the month of 


126 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


June. He then proceeded by sea, in the Princesa, 
and, with the assistance of the seamen of this vessel, 
the soldiers, and others, he repaired the damages 
done by the Indians, and again put matters on the 
same footing as before the attack. Subsequently 
he set about forming another mission, called San 
Juan Capistrano. On his way to this place he was 
about to be attacked by the Indians, but was saved 
by one of the converts, who had the presence of 
mind to call out, in the Indian dialect, that many 
soldiers were close behind, on which the assailants 
gave up their intention, and finally joined the 
Spaniards on their journey, receiving beads and 
becoming friends. 

After founding this mission, the president pro¬ 
ceeded to Monterey, and prepared to establish that 
of San Francisco, on the borders of the bay of that 
name, which had long been projected. He left 
Monterey on the seventeenth day of June, 1776, 
with some soldiers and several families of people, 
who had come overland from Sonora to establish 
themselves in the country, carrying with them black 
cattle, mules, and necessaries for the new mission. 
One of the packet-boats proceeded at the same 
time for the harbor of San Francisco, with the 
rest of the necessaries. 

On the twenty-seventh of June the expedition 
arrived near the situation where they intended to 















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Harbor of San Francisco, Upper California 

















UPPER CALIFORNIA 


127 


plant the mission, on the banks of the lake near 
one of the arms of the Bay of San Francisco. 
While they there waited the arrival of the vessel to 
determine the exact spot for its foundation, many 
of the natives came to them with demonstrations of 
peace, and expressed pleasure at their arrival. Find¬ 
ing that the packet-boat did not make its appearance, 
they commenced cutting timber for their houses, 
and pitched upon the most eligible situation 
for the presidio, near the place where they had 
halted. Indeed, the vessel did not arrive till the 
eighteenth of August, having been detained by 
contrary winds, which drove her back as far as to 
the latitude of thirty-three degrees. 

They took solemn possession of this presidio on 
the seventeenth day of September, “this day being 
(says Father Palou) the festival of the impression 
of the sores of San Francisco, the patron of the 
port. After blessing, adoring, and planting the holy 
cross, the first mass was chanted, and the cere¬ 
mony concluded by a Te IDeum, the act of possession 
in the name of our sovereign being accompanied 
with many discharges of artillery and musketry 
by sea and land.” 

They afterwards proceeded to survey the harbor 
both by land and by a launch, and ascertained 
that there was no other outlet to the ocean except 
by the passage through which they had entered. 


128 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Previous to the vessel returning to San Bias, they 
performed the ceremony of taking possession of 
the mission, in the same manner as they had before 
done of the presidio, and this they did on the day 

[on] # [October.] 

of San Francisco, in the ninth of November. 

It appears that about this time Father Palou 
joined the missionaries in Upper California, as he 
now begins to speak in the first person ; conse¬ 
quently his authority is even more valuable than 
before. We resume our narrative in his words. 

“None of the natives attended these ceremonies, 
as in the middle of August the whole of those who 
inhabited this place disappeared, going in their rush 
balsas, some to uninhabited islands in the bay, 
others to the other side of the strait. This move¬ 
ment was occasioned by their being surprised by a 
tribe or nation called the Salsona, their great ene¬ 
mies, who on this occasion killed a great number 
of them, and set fire to their huts. This misfor¬ 
tune we were unable to prevent, as the surprise 
and destruction took place without our knowledge, 
and when we endeavored to detain the flying Indi¬ 
ans, they paid no attention to us. This flight of 
the Indians was the cause of our being a long time 
without making any converts, as we did not see 
any of them again till the end of March of the 
following year. They then began to get over the 
fear of their enemies, and once more reposed some 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


129 


confidence in us. The first baptism performed in 
this mission was on St. John’s Day of this year, 
1776. 

I shall not further follow the progress of the 
President Junipero Serra and his spiritual associates 
in the formation of the other missions; suffice it 

[ 1784 ] 

to say, that, before his death in 1782, there were 
established, in addition to those already mentioned, 
Santa Clara, Santa Barbara, and San Buenaventura, 
which, together with San Diego, Monterey, San 
Antonio, San Gabriel, and San Francisco, made, 
in the whole, eight missions, all of which he 
occasionally visited. 

But he had at last to yield up his account, and to 
withdraw from the field in which he had so long 
and so laboriously toiled, in the hope, however, of 
joining in another world his prototype and master,. 
San Francisco, whom he had so assiduously made 
the object of his veneration and model for his 
labors in this. 

“We piously believed (says Father Palou) that 
he had slept in the Lord a little before two, in the 
afternoon, on the day of San Agustin, in the year 

[ 1784 ] 

1782, and that he would go and receive in heaven 
the reward of all his apostolical labors. He fin¬ 
ished his laborious life at the age of seventy years, 
nine months, and twenty-one days. He had passed 

fifty-three years, eleven months, and thirteen days 
9 K 


130 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


in holy orders; and of this time, thirty-five years, 
four months, and thirteen days in the office of 
apostolic missionary, in which time he performed 
the glorious actions which we have seen, having 
lived in continual activity, occupied in virtuous and 
holy exercises and in singular prowesses, all directed 
to the greater glory of God and the salvation of 
souls.’ * 


CHAPTER II 

RECENT HISTORY OF UPPER CALIFORNIA. — PRESENT 
POLITICAL CONDITION AND PROSPECTS 

The same plan of colonization and management, 
which has been described in the preceding chapter, 
continued to be carried on with little or no varia¬ 
tion by Father Serra’s successors until the whole 
of the littoral territories of California, with all their 
inhabitants, came under the temporal and spiritual 
dominion of the missionaries. A description of the 
settlement and progress of the individual missions, 
if their history could be obtained, would possess lit¬ 
tle interest. In a subsequent chapter I shall give 
an account of the actual condition of the whole, 
and will now conclude this by a brief notice of the 
civil history of the country up to the present time. 

During the long period that had elapsed since the 
first foundation of the missions, many large dona¬ 
tions had been bestowed, and numerous estates in 
land and houses left for the benefit of the missions, 
which were consolidated into a fund called the 

K 2 


131 


132 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


California Pious Fund. This fund was managed 
by the convent of San Fernando, and other trustees 
in Mexico, and the proceeds regularly remitted 
annually to California, as also the salaries assigned 
to the missionaries by the king. The government 
likewise sent soldiers to protect them from the attacks 
of the wild Indians and foreign enemies. 

Under this state of things, the missions greatly 
prospered. They went on augmenting their posses¬ 
sions, increasing their stock of domestic animals and 
the number of converted Indians, until they had 
absorbed nearly the whole of the valuable lands, 
to the almost total exclusion of free white settlers. 
No one could possess land, except by a grant from 
the missionaries, who, on all occasions, were very 
reserved in conceding such grants, and few colonists 
were to be found, except the officers of the troops, 
the soldiers, and their followers. Great care was 
taken that the soldiers should not leave too many 
descendants, to the supposed prejudice of the mis¬ 
sionary plan; and as no officer or soldier in His 
Catholic Majesty’s service can marry without his 
special license, it could easily be managed that as 
many marriages were permitted as were desired, and 
no more. This fully accounts for the very scanty 
number of free colonists that exists in California. 

In Upper as in Lower California, the missionary 
establishments were acknowledged to be the great 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


133 


objects for which the country was settled and main¬ 
tained ; and they existed in an almost complete 
state of independence of the Mexican government. 
Still, the country belonged to Spain, and all the 
ordinary government establishments were kept up 
in it, although to a much smaller extent than in 
the other provinces of the viceroyalty of New Spain. 
The general - commandant of all the troops in the 
country was also governor of all places and per¬ 
sons not under the immediate authority of the 
fathers. He resided at Monterey, and had a salary 
of four thousand dollars. He could not interfere 
with the affairs of the missions, but was obliged to 
grant them assistance when they claimed it. 

The ancient system remained in full force until 
the period of the revolution in Mexico and the 
separation of all the Americas from Spain. At that 
time, Upper California was formed into what is called 
a territory, and Lower California into another, on the 
ground of their respective populations not amounting 
to the number entitling them to be federative states, 
these being established on the basis of population. 

The territories are not entitled to have gover¬ 
nors or legislatures, but are allowed to send one 
member to the general congress. This member is 
entitled to sit and take a part in discussions, but 
has no vote. The territories are, from their being 
deprived of governors or legislatures, subject to the 


134 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


immediate government and legislation of the general 
government in Mexico. This reduced Upper Cali¬ 
fornia to be directed by an agent of the government, 
who resided there, under the denomination of com¬ 
mandant-general. This state of things California 
has not, as yet, had much cause to lament; for, until 
wiser legislation is adopted, and greater harmony 
exists between the general government and the 
different state legislatures, it is no great misfortune 
to be deprived of the labors of a provincial popular 
assembly. 

The two Californias send each a member to the 
general congress, elected by popular suffrage. The 
first deputy elected for Upper California was a cap¬ 
tain of the Californian troops, and a Spaniard by 
birth; but on his arrival at San Bias he found a law 
had been passed excluding natives of Spain from 
congress, and he was obliged to return. A lieutenant 
was then elected to succeed him, who proceeded to 
the city of Mexico, where he died. A sergeant of 
the same corps was next elected, who served out his 
term of two years in the Mexican congress, and then 
returned to his native country. This retrogression 
in the rank of the honorable members is rather 
singular. 

When an enlightened man shall govern this dis¬ 
tant and thinly peopled country, it must be much 
better regulated than if it were domineered over and 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


135 


plundered by a set of ill-informed and rapacious 
men united into a democratic council, and daily 
manufacturing absurd laws and regulations, which, 
after a very short time, are laid aside for some fresh 

whim, as a child throws away its plaything at the 

sight of a new one. It is true that even in the ter¬ 
ritories there is some semblance of a local govern¬ 
ment, for they have what is called a deputation, 
which is a sort of privy council, more for the 

purpose of advising with the commandant than of 
originating anything of themselves. Their powers 
are consequently very limited, and their reunion 

takes place but very seldom. 

When visited in 1826 and 1827 by Captain Beechey, 
the missions had begun to feel the effect of the 
recent changes in the government of Mexico. At 
this time there had arrived orders to liberate all 
the Indians “who had good characters, and were 
supposed able to maintain themselves, from having 
been taught the art of agriculture or some trade.” 
They were directed to have portions of land given 
to them for their maintenance, and the district to be 
divided into parishes, with curates provided for each. 
At the same time, the missionaries’ salaries, formerly 
paid by government, (400 dollars per annum,) were 
suspended, the country being expected to support 
its own establishment. Considering the utterly 
helpless and enslaved state of the Indians, which 


136 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


we shall describe more fully by and by, it is not to 
be supposed that a system of legislation of this sort, 
however philanthropic in appearance, could really 
answer the intended object. Accordingly, when 
Captain Beechey returned in the following year 
(November, 1827) he found that the new project 
had failed, and matters were in some degree restored 
to their former state. In consequence of the strong 
remonstrances of the fathers, the governor had 
modified the orders received from Mexico, and 
agreed to make the experiment on a small scale. 
“After a few months’ trial, (says Captain Beechey,) 
he found that these people, who had always been 
accustomed to the care and discipline of school-boys, 
finding themselves their own masters, indulged freely 
in all those excesses which it had been the endeavor 
of their tutors to repress, and that many, having 
gambled away their clothes, implements, and even 
their land, were compelled to beg or to plunder, in 
order to support life. They at length became so 
obnoxious to the peaceable inhabitants, that the 
padres were requested to take some of them back 
to the missions, while others, who had been guilty 
of misdemeanors, were loaded with shackles and put 
to hard work, and when we arrived were employed 
in transporting enormous stones to the beach to 
improve the landing-place.”* This unfortunate 


Voyage to the Pacific, vol. II, p. 320. 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


137 


result was taken advantage of by the fathers, and 
their remonstrances procured not only the restora¬ 
tion of their salaries, but a promise of payment 
of the arrears, they consenting to be submissive to 
the new government. 

Since this time, various contradictory laws have 
been passed respecting this country, and projects 
for its government and improvement, equally con¬ 
tradictory, set on foot; yet it is true that no change 
of government or of system has been able materially 
to alter the original Franciscan dispensation, which 
may still be said to exist in all its primitive purity. 
The great source of the property of the missions is, 
however, now, I believe, effectually dried up, viz., 
their supplies from Mexico ; for although the 
natives of Spain and their descendants inhabiting 
Mexico retained their religious zeal for conquering 
infidels and converting heathens longer and in 
greater force than the other European Christians, 
yet the American revolutions swept this, together 
with the Inquisition, and many other equally ven¬ 
erable customs, entirely away, and the modern repub¬ 
licans want money too much at home to think of 
sending any to so remote a place as California, so 
that the Pious Fund of California , like most other 
funds that could be made available* has been put 
to less pious uses. But the value of the estates of 
the missions has so much increased, as well from 


138 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


the multiplication of the domestic animals and aug¬ 
mented agricultural produce of the soil as from the 
additional demand and consequent increase of price 
which the opening of the trade to strangers has 
caused, that the missionaries are not only able to 
maintain themselves, but have to spare ; and in 
place of receiving supplies from Mexico, are even 
obliged to maintain the government troops. And 
although it has been a general opinion in Mexico, 
since the revolution, that the Californian system 
should be altered, yet it would appear that the 
government, under the presidency of Bustamante, 
or rather the ministry of Alaman, thought otherwise, 
for in 1833 they sent a reinforcement of eleven Fran¬ 
ciscan friars, with a new prefect of the same order 
at their head. These friars were some time de¬ 
tained at Tepic, a town near San Bias, waiting for a 
vessel, where I had an opportunity of seeing them. 
They were fresh from a convent of Zacatecas, where 
the rules are very strict. They all wore a habit of 
the coarsest gray woolen cloth, their crowns shaven, 
and sandals on their feet. They were totally igno¬ 
rant of the world, and of everything respecting the 
country which they were going to govern. They 
brought to one’s mind, in the most lively manner, 
the days of the pilgrimages of the Middle Ages, and 
if the anomalous nature of their destination could 
have been kept out of view, they would have formed 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


139 


an interesting group. As it was, it was impossible 
not to feel respect for their character, and a degree 
of veneration, mixed with pity, on thinking on their 
destiny, and observing their very pious, humble, and 
meek demeanor. It will not be here out of place to 
give, in a few words, the future history of these poor 
friars, as it will illustrate at once their character and 
the still very unsettled state of these countries. It 
will also, doubtless, remind the reader of the old days 
of Fathers Salvatierra and Junipero Serra. 

General Figueroa, being appointed military gov¬ 
ernor or commandant-general of Upper California, 
chartered a vessel in Acapulco to take himself, with 
some officers and soldiers, to Monterey, and intended 
to call at San Bias for eleven missionaries who were 
to join him there. Instead, however, of proceeding 
directly to San Bias, he thought it would be better 
to touch at San Lucas, in Lower California, dis¬ 
embark there with the soldiers, and send the ship 
to San Bias for the friars, and then to proceed to 
Mazatlan for some military stores. This was accord¬ 
ingly done; and while the vessel was in the Bay 
of Mazatlan, and after having the gunpowder and 
most of the other stores on board, she was struck 
with lightning, which passed along the mizzenmast 
into the hold, and set fire to some materials very 
near the powder. The fire was fortunately extin¬ 
guished before any bad consequence ensued. The 


140 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


lightning passed close to the cabin of the friars, 
who were all below, and it was remarked with what 
wonderful calmness they betook themselves to their 
only remedy, — their sacred offices and rosaries. It 
was, indeed, only by force that the officers and sea¬ 
men could remove them from off the hatch to get 
down the magazine, which was immediately below 
them, and they were thus only saved by the prompt 
exertions of the seamen from being blown to atoms. 
This danger being over, and the vessel again put to 
rights, she proceeded to Cape San Lucas to take on 
board the General and troops; and as the friars 
were all sick, never having before even seen salt 
water, they went on shore the moment the ship 
came to anchor. The General then gave orders for 
embarkation next morning, and the first division of 
soldiers proceeded to the beach with ammunition, 
arm-chests, &c. When the whole was ready for 
putting off in the launch, a sergeant informed his 
officers that he and his comrades had determined 
not to proceed to Upper California, declared for the 
party of General Santa Anna, then in revolution 
against the government, and avowed their intention 
of proceeding to San Bias to join their brother patri¬ 
ots engaged in the same cause. At the same time 
arming themselves, they proceeded to fire upon the 
quarters of the General, with whom were the unfor¬ 
tunate friars. In this extremity, the General and 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


141 


his companions, who were unarmed, had to fly, and 
the mutineers took possession of the ship, and 
obliged the captain to carry them to San Bias, taking 
along with them the military chest, in which were 
sixteen thousand dollars, as well as the private prop¬ 
erty of the general and his officers. The sergeant, 
however, generously, or rather piously, sent on 
shore, before his departure, three thousand dollars 
for the friars, thus verifying what is far from un¬ 
common, that a very considerable degree of religious 
feeling may be manifested by those who are guilty 
of the most atrocious crimes. The poor friars 
were now left in an almost desert country ; and 
having experienced so unpromising an onset in 
their sea voyage, resolved not to trust themselves 
again to that element, which seemed to them so 
unpropitious, and which had also been so fatal to 
their predecessors, the first settlers of California. 
They at first determined to follow the route by land 
which the Father Junipero had done so many years 
before them ; but, reflecting upon the difficulties 
which presented themselves, and receiving the coun¬ 
sel, or perhaps commands, of the general, they were 
at length prevailed on to proceed to La Paz, and 
there wait further orders from Mexico. 

In the mean time the vessel proceeded on her 
voyage to San Bias, during which the sergeant broke 
open the military chest, and took what money 


142 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


he thought necessary, to divide amongst his follow¬ 
ers and the sailors ; he also assigned a sum for the 
captain and mates, which, as they did not think it 
prudent to offend him, they received, but returned 
on their arrival at San Bias. On the arrival of 
the vessel at this port, which had also declared for 
Santa Anna, the sergeant and his soldiers were re¬ 
ceived by their compatriots with open arms, and 
the remainder of the money, which he chose to 
deliver up to the authorities, was thankfully re¬ 
ceived, leaving this worthy character to appropriate 
to himself what he pleased. The ship, after repair¬ 
ing her damages, getting some fresh stores, and 
spending a long time on the coast, at last proceeded 
to La Paz, where the friars once more embarked, 
and finally arrived at their destination. 

Notwithstanding this indication of following up 
the old system, a law was soon after passed by the 
general congress of Mexico for entirely removing 
the missionaries, dividing the lands and cattle 
amongst the Indians and settlers, and appropriating 
their funds in Mexico to the use of the state. The 
democratic party, then in power, soon after the 
passing of the law, named commissioners, amongst 
their own friends, to carry it into execution, and 
empowered them to engage emigrants in Mexico to 
accompany them, and to whom the pay of half a 
dollar a day was assigned till their arrival in Cali- 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


143 


fornia, with a free passage, and provisions during 
their voyage. Nearly three hundred people engaged 
on those terms, consisting of men, women, and chil¬ 
dren. They were of every class of persons except 
that which could be useful; for there was not one 
agriculturist amongst them. They were chiefly from 
the city of Mexico, and consisted of artisans and 
idlers who had been made to believe that they would 
soon enrich themselves, in idleness, in this happy 
country. There were to be seen goldsmiths pro¬ 
ceeding to a country where no gold or silver existed; 
blacksmiths, to where no horses are shod or iron 
used; carpenters, to where only huts without furni¬ 
ture were erected; shoemakers, to where only san¬ 
dals of rawhide were worn; tailors, to where the 
inhabitants only covered themselves with a blanket; 
doctors, to where no one gets sick. There were also 
engravers, printers, musicians, gamblers, and other 
nameless professors, — all bound on this hopeful cru¬ 
sade, which their enthusiastic leaders assured them 
would procure unalloyed felicity and unbounded 
riches. The projectors and leaders of this colony 
had also formed and published a magnificent plan 
of a public company, which they entitled “The Cos¬ 
mopolite Company ” (Compafua Cosmopolitana). It 
embraced the three great branches of agriculture, 
manufactures, and commerce, which were to be car¬ 
ried on upon a scale of great magnitude. Gover- 


144 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

nors, directors, secretaries, clerks, inspectors of 
accounts, administrators, majordomos, and all the 
other multifarious officers so well understood in 
Spanish undertakings, and so necessary in such 
projects, were provided in profusion, and the most 
minute regulations specified for their government. 
None of our celebrated companies of 1825 could 
possibly surpass them in the extent of their views 
or the exactness of their detail. To carry this 
scheme into execution, subscription shares were 
opened for the emigrants and others, and it is said 
that about eight thousand dollars (^1,600) were 
obtained. Doubtless, if this colony and company 
had been allowed to put their plan of spoliation of 
the missions in execution, it might not have turned 
to so bad account. But, immediately after their 
leaving San Bias, General Santa Anna assumed the 
government, displacing Gomez Farias, the leader 
of the democrats ; and one of his first acts was to 
dispatch a messenger overland, by the way of the 
Rio Colorado and round the head of the Gulf of 
California, in order to prevent the Californian com¬ 
missioners from carrying their projected plan 
against the missions into execution. The commis¬ 
sioners and emigrants, having embarked at San Bias 
in two vessels, had a long passage, and allowed 
Santa Anna’s messenger to arrive before them, so 
that General Figueroa refused to admit of their 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


145 


commission, but assigned them lands on which they 
might settle as emigrants. This was remonstrated 
against most violently, but they were obliged to 
submit, and they retired to a spot on the Bay of 
San Francisco, where they were for a time supported 
on provisions from the nearest mission. They en¬ 
deavored to settle themselves among the other colo¬ 
nists, but, being accused of views contrary to the 
existing state of things, they were banished from 
the country, and in the month of May, 1835, the 
leaders of this colony, together with many of their 
followers, returned to Mexico, landing in a vessel 
at San Bias. 

Thus ended the first attempt made by the Mexi¬ 
can republic to augment the population and to alter 
the state of California. Its termination has been such 
as was to be expected from such an ill-concerted 
plan. This foolish scheme cost a very large sum 
of money, at a time when the government could ill 
spare it. However, had this money been applied 
in a proper manner, and had industrious agricul¬ 
tural settlers been sought for and introduced judi¬ 
ciously, the result, both to the country and to the 
settlers, would have been highly beneficial, whereas 
it has only brought misery on the emigrants and 
loss and ridicule on the government. 

It is perhaps advantageous for California that it 
should remain a part of the Mexican republic, inas- 

L 


10 


146 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


much as it reaps the advantage of disposing of its 
produce in the Mexican ports free of foreign duties. 
This advantage is, however, at present, but nominal; 
for, in the first place, it sends little or no produce to 
that country ; and in the second place, the coasting 
duty is exorbitant, being twelve per cent on the 
selling price where the articles are landed. But 
when a wiser policy is adopted, and when California 
becomes an exporting country, this advantage would 
be of much consequence. California, however, is 
quite a distinct country from Mexico, and has 
nothing in common with it, except that the present 
inhabitants are of the same family. It is therefore 
to be apprehended that on any cause of quarrel 
between the two countries, it will be apt to separate 
itself from the parent state. This, from its distant 
situation, and the difficulty of conveying troops from 
Mexico, would be easily effected; and although the 
present population is inadequate to form permanently 
an independent nation, yet the fashion of splitting 
countries into small, independent portions has become 
so prevalent in the late Spanish possessions that 
an attempt to realize such a project may not be so 
improbable as it should now seem. The situation 
and natural resources of California are so favor¬ 
able that a small number of inhabitants could resist 
any attacks made upon it by such a nation as 
Mexico, or it might even soon overawe the coast 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


147 


of Mexico itself, and force the government of that 
country to grant it such terms as it should demand. 
The shores of the Mexican republic on the Pacific 
are ill calculated for maintaining any maritime 
force. It has none at present; and, from its un¬ 
healthy situation, scarcity of materials, and want 
of sailors or maritime enterprise, it is not likely 
ever to have on the Pacific any formidable navy. 
On the contrary, California is calculated, in an 
eminent degree, to become a maritime power. Its 
coasts are healthy, its harbors excellent, and its 
capacity to produce materials for ship-building and 
marine stores is almost without limits. If, therefore, 
there should ever exist a sufficient population to 
maintain a separate sovereignty, or the occupiers of 
the country be of a quality and character capable 
of taking advantage of those resources, Mexico, 
instead of being able to reduce California, would 
be obliged to succumb to it. 

Any foreign power, if disposed to take possession 
of California, could easily do so, but the happy 
state of peace which reigns at present in the world, 
and the just principles which the great powers of 
Europe have adopted, of not interfering with the 
possessions of others, put any fear of that kind out 
of the question. The settlement of the Russians at 
Bodega is, strictly speaking, in the Mexican terri¬ 
tory ; but it has conducted itself so quietly, that no 


148 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


attempt has been made to disturb it, although sus¬ 
picions have been entertained that at some future 
day the whole of Upper California would fall into 
their hands. 

A latent jealousy also exists in the minds of 
some of the Mexican politicians, that if foreign 
emigrants were admitted in great numbers into 
California, they might set up for themselves, and 
cause the loss of the country. This, however, is 
but an imaginary contingency ; and if the Mexican 
government would adopt a wise system of coloni¬ 
zation laws, and a liberal general policy, under 
which their citizens could live happily, no fears on 
that account, for a great length of time, need be 
entertained. Under the present system, it is of little 
consequence to whom it belongs. If, indeed, a future 
Cochrane should visit the shores of California and 
make common cause with its inhabitants, as our 
hero did with the Chilenos, the period might 
not be remote when it should make the Mexican 
shores tremble as Chile did those of Peru. And, 
truly, there seems no alternative, except to admit 
foreign emigrants or to allow the country to remain 
stationary; for the character of the present popu¬ 
lation leaves no probability of its rapid increase 
either in number or enterprise, and nothing can 
be expected of emigration from the other Mexican 
states, which are themselves but too thinly peopled, 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 149 

and whose inhabitants are but ill fitted for such a 
country as California. 

[The preceding part of this chapter, as well as 
the whole of the present work, was finished and 
sent to England in the year 1835. The following 
additional particulars are given from a recent letter 
received by the editor from the author, and are 
too important to be suppressed.] 

In the year 1836, the inhabitants of Monterey and 
the vicinity rose, and, declaring themselves inde¬ 
pendent, attacked the garrison and forced the com¬ 
mandant and troops to capitulate. At a public 
meeting of the inhabitants, called subsequently, on 
the 7th November, at Monterey, the following reso¬ 
lutions were passed as the basis of a provisional 
government. 

1st. Upper California is declared to be inde¬ 
pendent of Mexico during the non-re-establishment 
of the federal system which was adopted in the 
year 1824. 

2nd. The said California shall be erected into 
a free and governing state, establishing a congress 
which shall dictate all the particular laws of the 
country and elect the other supreme powers neces¬ 
sary, declaring the actual “ Most Excellent Depu¬ 
tation ’ ’ constituent. 

3rd. The religion shall be the Roman Catholic 


150 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Apostolic, without admitting the exercise of any 
other ; but the government will not molest any 
persons for their particular religious opinions. 

4th. A constitution shall regulate all the branches 
of the administration ‘ 4 provisionally/’ in conformity, 
as much as possible, with the expressed declara¬ 
tion. 

5th. Until what is contained in the foregoing 
articles be put in execution, Senor Don Mariano 
Guadalupe Vallejo shall be called on to act as 
commandant - general. 

6th. The president of the “ Most Excellent 
Deputation’’ shall pass the necessary communica¬ 
tions to the municipalities of the territory. 

They followed up these proceedings by expelling 
the whole officials of the Mexican government, and 
all the troops, from the country, and transporting 
them to the Mexican territory. 

On receiving notice of this revolution, the Mexi¬ 
can government immediately had recourse to their 
usual mode of warfare, fulminating furious procla¬ 
mations and addresses to the citizens, appealing to 
their patriotism, and ordering to be prepared, without 
delay, a formidable expedition to proceed against 
such audacious and unnatural sons of the republic, 
whom it was incumbent on them to put down, and 
chastise as their treason deserved. The first patriotic 
ebullition, however, soon subsided. No expedition 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


151 


was prepared, California was soon forgotten, and it 
has remained for nearly two years to do as it pleases, 
to have a government of its own manufacture, or to 
live without a government at all. Being thus left 
to the freedom of their own will, the Californians, 
true to the spirit which has animated all the Spanish- 
American colonies since their emancipation, imme¬ 
diately began to divide themselves into parties ; and 
although there are only about five thousand Spanish 
creoles in the whole country, they had their party of 
the north, which declared for an entire independence 
of Mexico, and the party of the south, which ad¬ 
hered to Mexico on certain conditions. The want 
of frequent communication with Mexico renders it 
quite uncertain what may at present (June, 1838) 
be the state of the country ; but it is, at least, evi¬ 
dent now, if there was any doubt formerly, that 
it is at this moment in a state which cannot pre¬ 
vent its being taken possession of by any foreign 
force which may present itself. The British govern¬ 
ment seem lately to have had some suspicion that 
California would be encroached upon, if not taken 
entire possession of, by the Russians, who are settled 
so close upon its northern frontier, but, by the latest 
accounts, no encroachment has been made, nor 
has any augmentation been made, either in the 
number of people in the colony or in the fortifica¬ 
tions. The danger does not lie there. There is 
another restless and enterprising neighbor, from 


152 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


whom they will most probably soon have to defend 
themselves, or rather to submit to; for although the 
frontiers of North America are much more distant 
than the Russians, yet, to such men as the back- 
settlers, distance is of little moment, and they are 
already well acquainted with the route. The north¬ 
ern American tide of population must roll on 
southward and overwhelm not only California, but 
other more important states. This latter event, how¬ 
ever, is in the womb of time, but the invasion of 
California by American settlers is daily talked of; and 
if Santa Anna had prevailed against Texas, a por¬ 
tion of the inhabitants of that country, sufficient 
to overrun California, would now have been its 
masters. 

There have been some thoughts of proposing to 
the Mexican government that it should endeavor 
to cancel the English debt — which now exceeds fifty 
millions of dollars — by a transfer of California to the 
creditors. This would be a wise measure on the part 
of Mexico, if the government could be brought 
to lay aside the vanity of retaining large possessions. 
The cession of such a disjointed part of the republic 
as California would be an advantage. In no case 
can it ever be profitable to the Mexican republic, 
nor can it possibly remain united to it for any 
length of time, if it should even be induced to 
rejoin this state, from which, at present, it is, to all 
intents and purposes, separated. Therefore, by 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


153 


giving up this territory for the debt, [it] would be 
getting rid of this last for nothing. But would the 
English creditors accept of it ? I think they might, 
and I think they ought. They have lately displayed 
an inclination to treat and to receive lands as a part 
of the debt, where no land exists belonging to Mexico. 
In the settlement made with Lizardi & Co., as agents 
for the Mexican government in London, lands are 
stipulated to be delivered, at a certain price per acre, 
in Texas, in which Mexico does not possess an acre, 
in the state of New Mexico, which is many hundred 
leagues inland in Sonora, and God knows where. 
To the good fortune, however, of the English 
creditors, this contract has been disapproved of by 
the Mexican government, and it is hoped that some 
more rational scheme will be hit upon to give 
the creditors some sort of tangible security for at 
least a part of what they have been so scandalously 
fleeced out of. If California was ceded for the 
English debt, the creditors might be formed into a 
company, with the difference that they should have 
a sort of sovereignty over the territory, somewhat 
in the manner of the East India Company. This, in 
my opinion, would certainly bring a revenue, in time, 
which might be equal to the interest of the debt, 
and, under good management, and with an English 
population, would most certainly realize all that 
has been predicted of this fine country. 


CHAPTER III 


TOPOGRAPHY OF UPPER CALIFORNIA. — NATURAL 
PRODUCTIONS 

The part of Upper California at present occupied 
by the missions and settlers is about five hundred 
English miles in length, and the breadth from the 
sea to the first range of hills may be stated at an 
average of forty miles, which will give an area of 
twenty thousand square miles, and about thirteen 
millions of English statute acres. This, however, is 
but a small part of Upper California, as the whole 
country extending to the Rio Colorado, and to an 
undefined limit northward, is included in its terri¬ 
tory ; and although the missionaries have hardly 
extended their settlements to the northward of the 
Bay of San Francisco, yet the most fertile lands, and 
those fittest for European settlers, lie to the north 
of and around that bay. The whole extent of 
Upper California, properly so called, presents a su¬ 
perficies equal to many of the most extensive and 
powerful kingdoms of Europe. 

All this immense extent of territory, except that 
occupied by the missions on the coast, is possessed 

154 


TOPOGRAPHY 


155 


by scattered tribes of Indians, and has been hitherto 
but little known. Since, however, the Mexican coun¬ 
try has been opened to strangers by the revolution, 
those plains and wilds have been traversed by adven¬ 
turers from the United States of North America. 
Parties of hunters, armed with rifles, and carrying a 
few articles for barter, have traveled from the borders 
of the Mississippi to the shores of the Pacific, and 
have astonished the Californians by their sudden 
appearance, and still more by the fact that they had 
escaped the vengeance of the wild Indians. The 
adventures of those American hunters furnish exam¬ 
ples of the most extraordinary daring, and present a 
remarkable contrast to the conduct of the indolent 
native creole. The latter seldom leaves his own habi¬ 
tation, or exposes himself to the rays of the sun; 
whereas these men, from their being always in the 
open air, and from the effect of their rough pursuits, 
appear nearly as wild as the beasts they are in 
chase of. The Spanish settlers always considered the 
Indians on the Rio Colorado and countries adjacent 
as ferociously inimical to white men, and that it was 
almost impossible to pass through their territory. 
This is, however, a great exaggeration ; for although 
some of the tribes may not be so docile or pusil¬ 
lanimous as those formerly living on the shores 
of the Pacific and in other parts of Mexico, yet 
there are none of them very formidable. 


156 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


The country immediately behind the high lands 
which bound the present possessions of the mission¬ 
aries is reckoned even superior to that on the 
coast, and is said to consist of plains, lakes, and 
hills, beautifully diversified, and of the greatest 
natural fertility, capable of yielding every variety of 
vegetable productions, and abounding with timber 
of great size. To the northward of these plains are 
situated two large lakes, said to be distant from one 
another about eighteen or twenty leagues, and their 
extent is described to be very great; but so little 
certain is known respecting them, that it would 
only lead to error to repeat the tales related by those 
who have never seen them. There is no doubt, 
however, of their existence, and that they possess 
many fine islands, which are inhabited by Indians. 
The lakes and streams in this district abound with 
bulrushes, called by the natives tule , and from this 
the whole country takes its name, being called the 
plains of the Tulares. 

As bearing on the topographical character of 
the Indian countries, I will here introduce a short 
notice of some missionary travels through a part 
of them, undertaken shortly after the first establish¬ 
ment of the missions in Upper California. The 
information is interesting from the earliness and 
authenticity of its source, and not the less so because 
it throws some little light on the character of 


TOPOGRAPHY 


157 


the natives, and the policy of the original founders 
of the Californian missions. For this and other 
valuable information on the subject of the present 
work, derived from some scarce books and old 
manuscripts, I am indebted to the great kindness 
of Don Manuel Najera, prior of the Carmelite con¬ 
vent in Guadalajara, in the republic of Mexico, a 
gentleman as distinguished for his extensive learning 
as [for] his excellent moral qualities. Don Manuel 
has in his library a collection of valuable and scarce 
books and MSS. on the subjects of Mexican history 
and antiquities, and it is to be hoped that he will 
one day give to the public the result of his extensive 
researches. 

The first of these curious documents is a manu¬ 
script written by Friar Francisco Garces, giving an 
account, in the form of a journal, of a journey per¬ 
formed by him in the year 1775, from the missions 
on the borders of Sonora to Upper California, and 
his return by nearly the same route. This journey 
was made about six years after the establishment of 
the Franciscan missions in Upper California. The 
Father Garces naturally expected to be received by 
his brethren and the military authorities in the new 
settlements with kindness, and admitted as a co¬ 
adjutor in the work of civilizing the natives, and in 
establishing the true faith amongst them, more 
particularly as having verified, by his successful 
journey, the facility of communicating by land with 


158 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Mexico, and of connecting in one bond the whole 
territory from the Rio Colorado to the Pacific. But 
very different was his reception. On his arrival at 
the mission of San Gabriel, he was told that it was 
not at all desirable that a communication should be 
opened, by which the Indians on the Rio Colorado 
and the intervening plains might be enabled, per¬ 
haps, to molest or attack the new settlements. So 
much displeasure did the governor of California 
show to the traveler, that he refused him all suc¬ 
cor or assistance, and even denied him the neces¬ 
sary provisions to enable him to return. Finding 
such an inhospitable reception, Father Garces re¬ 
mained only a few days with his brother missionaries, 
and set out on his return, traversing the country 
called the Tulares, and finally arriving at his own 
mission in Sonora without any accident. 

There is a short manuscript annexed to that 
of the Father Garces, professing to be the journal 
of Father Francisco Atanacio Dominguez and 
Father Silvestre Velez de Escalante, kept during a 
journey performed by them in 1776, from Santa 
Fe, the capital of the province of New Mexico, 
towards Monterey, in Upper California. Those 
friars took a more northerly route than Garces, and 
were, by their account, at one time as far as 41° N. 
But, after they had arrived as far as what they 
considered to be 136 leagues in a direct line west 
of Santa Fe, and reckoning themselves yet a great 


TOPOGRAPHY 159 

distance from Monterey, they determined to give 
up the enterprise, and to return. 

From the accounts given by these missionaries, 
it appears that the borders of the rivers Gila and 
Colorado were thickly peopled by Indians in a very 
low state of civilization. They, however, cultivated 
some maize, and even wheat, and they had also cattle. 
The travelers did not encounter the slightest opposi¬ 
tion or hostility from any of the tribes through which 
they passed. On the contrary, they were received 
with kindness, and presented with a part of such 
food as they possessed. On leaving the vicinity of the 
Rio Colorado and proceeding westerly, they found 
the natives fewer in numbers and less civilized, the 
greater part being entirely naked, and living on 
roots, and seeds of trees. 

Father Garces says that his manuscript will be 
accompanied by a map made by Father Pedro 
Font, who accompanied him a part of the journey, 
but who separated from him and returned. This 
map, however, is missing; and although Garces 
informs us that he carried with him a quadrant and 
mariner’s compass, it is difficult to trace his route, 
as he only gives the latitude at very distant points ; 
but he gives the number of leagues daily traveled, 
and the point of the compass towards which he 
directed his course. 

The journeys of those friars are chiefly valuable 


160 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


in as far as they prove that there is nothing in the 
character of the Indian population of the country 
lying between the peopled Mexican states and Cali¬ 
fornia which can prevent its being easily colonized, 
or which could prevent a free communication over¬ 
land ; neither is the distance at all formidable. It 
is also proved by them that the whole of this vast 
country is free from any natural obstruction to its 
settlement and cultivation. There are no impene¬ 
trable forests, and the greater part is a level country, 
full of pasturage, and capable of being cultivated. 

The Father Garces traveled between the thirty- 
fourth and thirty-fifth degrees of latitude, having 
taken his departure from the west bank of the Rio 
Colorado, in about 35° N., keeping in the direction 
of the mission of San Gabriel, in Upper California, 
making the distance, by his diary, from this river and 
the said mission, only about ninety leagues, which 
agrees very well with the distance as laid down upon 
the maps. He makes the distance from the last of 
the missionary settlements in Sonora, called 4 ‘ Tuc¬ 
son/ ’ to the Rio Colorado, seventy-five leagues; 
thus making the whole distance from those settle¬ 
ments to San Gabriel, on the Pacific, 165 leagues. 
This distance, by the usual mode of traveling in 
Mexico, would only be about ten days’ journey. As 
these travelers, however, take no observations for 
the longitude, for which they had not the necessary 


TOPOGRAPHY 


161 


instruments, there is no great certainty as to the 
distances they give. They calculate the leagues by 
the rate at which their mules travel ; and as the 
maps we have are formed by this mode of surveying, 
they cannot be much depended upon. 

These missionary travels being undertaken chiefly 
with the intention of converting the natives and of 
fixing on the proper places for planting missions, 
everything which is most interesting to the general 
reader or geographer is almost lost sight of. The 
Father Garces traveled with the Virgin Mary painted 
on one side of a piece of canvas, and the Devil, 
in the flames of hell, on the other. To unfurl this 
standard was his first operation on arriving at 
the habitation of a tribe of Indians; and he ob¬ 
serves, that, on showing the Virgin, they generally 
exclaimed “Good!” but on turning the other side, 
they said “Bad!” This introduction was followed 
by some questions, put through interpreters, respect¬ 
ing their willingness to become Christians, and 
vassals of the king of Spain ; whether they knew 
anything of heaven, of God, or of the Virgin, &c. 
The father, however, took some pains to ascertain 
the names of the different tribes on the rivers Gila 
and Colorado, and of their wars and numbers. He 
gives the following list of the nations he visited, or 
had an account of; viz.,— 


11 


M 


162 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


On the River Gila On the River Colorado 

Nations Souls Nations Souls 

Papaga [Papago]. 4,000 Cucopa [Cocopa] .... 3,000 

Pima. 2,500 Tallignamay.2,000 

Cocomaricopas. 2,500 Carjuenche [Cajuenche] . . 3,000 

Yuma.. 3,000 

T[J]alchedon [Alchedoma] . 2,500 

Tamasabs [Mohave] . . . 3,000 

9,000 16,500 

Total. 25,500 


He gives the names of eleven other nations, which 
inhabit the country more to the northward, but 
does not state their numbers. This numeration is 
exclusive of all the tribes in the intervening country 
from the vicinity of the Rio Colorado to the Pacific 
Ocean; and although the tribes which he saw there 
do not appear to have been so numerous as those 
on the rivers, yet they were very considerable. 
The fathers Dominguez and Escalante found to 
the northward, as far as they reached, the whole 
country occupied by tribes which appear to have 
been more civilized and better clothed than those 
on the rivers and plains to the southward, so that 
the aggregate population of these as yet unknown 
countries must be great. 

Since these journeys, which seem to have been 
undertaken by the missionaries with some zeal, 
there has been nothing done, either to ascertain 
the real state or situation of those countries or to 








TOPOGRAPHY 


163 


civilize the natives. The whole country beyond the 
mission of Tucson is, as in former days, in the pos¬ 
session of the Indian tribes, and the vast region 
between the frontiers of Sonora and the strips of 
country occupied by the descendants of the Span¬ 
iards in Upper California is a terra incognita , and 
not merely so, but, apparently, utterly forgotten by 
the inhabitants and government of Mexico. 

The lakes of the Indian country abound with a 
great variety of fish and aquatic birds, and have, on 
their borders and islands, great numbers of otters, 
and other animals which supply valuable furs. The 
Spanish missionaries had, long ago, an intention to 
form new missions in the plains of the Tulares, but 
this was never accomplished, and the revolution 
has probably put an end to all such projects for a 
long time. 

The situation of Upper California, between the 
tropical and northern zones, places it in the list of 
those countries which have always been most prized 
by mankind; and the nature of its soil and climate, 
and most of its other topographical relations, are 
calculated to justify all the favorable expectations 
which its happy geographical relations naturally give 
rise to. “The climate (says Laperouse) differs a 
little from that of the southern provinces of France; 
at least, the cold is never so piercing there ; but the 
heat of summer is much more moderate, owing to 


164 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


the continual fogs which reign there, and which 
procure for the land a humidity very favorable to 
vegetation/ ’ 

This account of Laperouse is not quite correct. 
The southern parts of the country are not entirely 
exempt from the periodical rains and long droughts 
to which the tropical climates in their vicinity are 
liable. For this reason, irrigation of the land sown 
with wheat becomes necessary there. In the northern 
districts, however, and particularly around the Bay 
of San Francisco, the rains are more general, 
and irrigation unnecessary. The periodical rains of 
the south, which are very heavy, begin to fall in 
November and continue till April, being the reverse 
of what takes place on the Mexican continent, 
where the rains commence in June and end in 
November. From Monterey northward, a thick 
fog commences on the cessation of the rains, and 
continues till the month of August. During this 
period the fog prevails almost daily in the morning, 
but during the rest of the year the sky is beautifully 
clear and serene. 

The degree of temperature in a country extending 
through so many degrees of latitude, and possessing 
such a variety of surface, must vary much in differ¬ 
ent places. I regret that I possess no accurate data 
to fix this. In the month of December (1826), it 
is stated by Captain Beechey that the mean tempera- 


TOPOGRAPHY 165 

[ 53 . 2 °?] 

ture of San Francisco was 53° 2',— the maximum 
66°, and the minimum 46°; and the hygrometer is 
said to have indicated a dry atmosphere. 

The surface of the country is considerably varied 
in different districts, being in some places elevated 
into ranges of low hills, in others spreading out into 
extensive plains. The hills vary from one thousand 
to upwards of three thousand feet in height. Some 
seem chiefly composed of sandstone. The soil is, in 
some places, of a light, sandy character, yet far from 
sterile ; in others, of the richest loam. In some 
spots the surface is marshy, but the prevailing char¬ 
acter of the soil is dryness. Indeed, the chief defect 
of the country is the infrequency of springs 
and rivers, although this infrequency is far from 
amounting to a serious obstacle to agriculture, or 
even to extreme fertility. Water can be obtained, 
in most places, by digging, and the plains between 
the mountains and the shore are here and there 
intersected by small streams, on the banks of which 
most of the missions are founded. The largest 
rivers are those which run into the Bay of San 
Francisco, and arise from the north, the northeast* 
and the southeast. The largest of these — the Sac¬ 
ramento — has been traced some hundred miles 
upwards to the northeast, where it was found still 
a large river. It is supposed by some to flow out of a 
large lake, but this point remains yet unascertained. 


166 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


It is navigable, at least by boats, to a great distance 
inland. The San Joaquin, also of considerable size, 
rises in the distant mountains in the southeast. 

The Jesus Maria empties itself into the Sacra¬ 
mento, at some distance from its mouth. It is also 
navigable by boats to a considerable distance. It 
flows from the south and east, through a country 
said to be of great fertility, and susceptible of irriga¬ 
tion by it. The other rivers are much smaller, and, 
indeed, most of them are only rivulets. Most of 
them water different missions, and derive their 
names from them. They are, Rio del Rancho 
(which flows into the Bay of Monterey), El Pajaro, 
San Carlos, Santa Clara, San Gabriel, Santa Ana, 
Los Angeles, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Cruz, 
Santa Ines, San Buenaventura. 

California possesses several harbors, and one, at 
least, of great excellence. 

San Francisco is not only the principal port 
in California, but the largest and safest on the 
whole western coast of America. It is an arm of 
the sea, or bay, which runs a considerable distance 
inland, and is accessible by a narrow but deep and 
safe entrance. It divides itself inside into various 
wide branches, so as to make it one of the most 
capacious harbors in the world. 

Monterey is only an open bay, or roadstead, 
but is safe from almost all winds. This station. 












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Santa Barbara, Upper California 





TOPOGRAPHY 167 

being more centrical than San Francisco or San 
Diego, has been hitherto the place of chief resort 
for foreign vessels, and has been considered as the 
capital of Upper California; but if the country around 
the Bay of San Francisco was peopled and cultivated, 
that port would be the most convenient for the 
foreign commerce of the country, it being, in all 
respects, so much superior to the others. 

The canal of Santa Barbara, as it is called, that 
is, the strait between the island of Santa Cruz and 
the mainland, near the mission of Santa Barbara, is 
also much frequented ; and although it is not 
considered a very safe anchorage, yet vessels often 
discharge and take in their cargoes there. The 
Bay of Santa Barbara is completely sheltered from 
the northwest and westerly winds, but exposed 
to the S. E. and S. W. The anchorage is very 
indifferent, being all hard sand. The best anchor¬ 
age is about half a mile off the outer head, which 
forms the little bay where the landing-place is. 
There is no kind of tide or current here, but 
there appears occasionally to be a rise and fall of 
two or three feet. 

San Diego is a good harbor, and very secure. 
It is quite sufficient for the reception of merchant 
vessels, but is of much less capacity than San Fran¬ 
cisco. This harbor runs a considerable distance 
inland, and is very convenient and commodious for 


168 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

commerce. About one mile within the mouth, 
there is good anchorage in ten fathoms water. The 
tide here runs four times in the twenty-four hours,— 
six hours flood and six ebb. The port extends to a 
considerable distance to the eastward, where there 
is a channel in the center, of four or five fathoms 
water all along. The sand-banks run off on each 
side about a cable’s-length, and are, in part, dry 
at low water. There is no water to be got here, 
except at the presidio. It is brought down to the 
beach in carts. 

Port San Pedro is a very extensive bay, being 
sixteen miles from point to point. It is difficult 
for a stranger to find the best anchorage, as it is 
not indicated on the ordinary charts. There is no 
kind of mark whatever on the shore, the nearest 
house being four leagues off, half-way to the mission 
of San Gabriel. The best anchorage — and that 
which all vessels trading with the mission occupy — 
is close under the N. W. point of the bay, about 
half a mile from a large rock, which is inshore, and 
about one mile from the beach. There is good 
holding-ground of stiff mud, in four and a half 
fathoms, at a place from which the point bears 
S. half-west, the rock N. E., and the landing-place 
W. N. W. 

San Juan. —The anchorage of this bay (lat. 33° 
33', long. 117° 120 is close under the western head. 


TOPOGRAPHY 


169 


Care must be taken, in coming to anchor in the 
night, to round the head (if coming from the north¬ 
westward) about a mile distant, as there are several 
very dangerous rocks some distance from it, nearly 
level with the water. It is difficult landing when 
the wind blows from the S. E., on account of the 
high surf ; but when the wind is westerly and 
N. W., it is quite smooth. The anchorage is good 
throughout the bay; the ground, a mixture of sand 
and mud in five fathoms. 

All travelers in this country have been struck 
with its fertility and beauty, but especially with 
its fertility. In many places, however, even where 
the valleys and plains are fertile, the hills are bleak 
and bare; and on the coast, in many places, as 
in the neighborhood of San Francisco, the sea- 
winds and fogs blast the foliage of all the trees 
in exposed situations. Captain Beechey compares 
the effect to that produced by the same cause 
in Shetland. It is probably more analogous to 
that observed in Cornwall. More inland, nothing 
of the kind is seen ; but a succession of scenes 
which are indeed most delightful to the traveler, 
whether he has come from the arid wilds of the 
south, the bleak north, or from the ocean. Such 
scenes were not lost on Vancouver when he visited 
this coast. In his account of a journey from Mon¬ 
terey to Santa Clara, he notices many such. “We 


170 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


considered our route (he says) to be parallel to the 
sea-coast, between which and our path the ridge of 
mountains extended to the southeastward ; and as 
we advanced, their sides and summits exhibited a 
high degree of luxuriant fertility, interspersed with 
copses of various forms and magnitude, verdant 
open spaces, and enriched with stately forest trees 
of different descriptions. About noon, we arrived 
at a very pleasant and enchanting lawn, situated 
amidst a grove of trees at the foot of a small hill, 
by which flowed a very fine stream of excellent 
water. We had not proceeded far from this delight¬ 
ful spot, when we entered a country I little expected 
to find in these regions. For about twenty miles 
it could only be compared to a park which had 
originally been closely planted with the true old 
English oak ; the underwood, that had probably 
attended its early growth, had the appearance of 
having been cleared away, and had left the stately 
lords of the forest in complete possession of the 
soil, which was covered with luxuriant herbage, and 
beautifully diversified with pleasing eminences and 
valleys, which, with the range of lofty rugged moun¬ 
tains that bounded the prospect, required only to be 
adorned with the neat habitations of an industrious 
people to produce a scene not inferior to the most 
studied effect of taste in the disposal of grounds.” * 


Vancouver’s Voyage, vol. ii, p. 17. 


TOPOGRAPHY 


171 


When it is considered that this was in November, 
the beauty of the scenery is not a little enhanced. 
“New California (says Humboldt) is as well watered 
and fertile as Old California is arid and stony. 
The climate is much more mild than in the same 
latitude on the eastern coast of the new continent. 
The frequent fogs give vigor to vegetation and fertilize 
the soil, which is covered with a black and spongy 
earth.’’ This last observation is only partially true, 
as will appear from what is stated above. 

Respecting the extreme fertility of the soil, all 
observers accord with Laperouse, and also as to 
its singular aptitude for the growth not only of 
European productions, but of those of the warmer 
regions of the earth. In the garden at the mission of 
[San] Buenaventura, Vancouver was alike struck with 
“the quality, quantity, and variety of its excellent 
productions, not only indigenous to the country, 
but appertaining to the temperate as well as torrid 
zone ; not one species having yet been sown or 
planted that had not flourished and yielded its fruit 
in abundance and of excellent quality.” “These (he 
adds) have principally consisted of apples, pears, 
plums, figs, oranges, grapes, peaches, and pome¬ 
granates, together with the plantain, banana, cocoa- 
nut, sugar-cane, indigo, and a great variety of the 
necessary and useful kitchen - herbs, plants, and 
roots.” * It would not be easy to match such an 

* Vancouver’s Voyage, vol. ii, p. 494. 


172 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


assemblage as this elsewhere ; and yet this is only a 
part of the useful fruits and vegetables now culti¬ 
vated in California. We shall defer what we have 
to say of its farinaceous products until we come to 
speak of the state of agriculture. The object of the 
present sketch being mainly economical, or commer¬ 
cial and statistical, it never was my intention to 
notice matters foreign to this, however interesting. 
Had it been otherwise, I should have greatly 
regretted my inability to give any account of the 
natural history of California, which remains a rich 
and almost untrodden field for future inquiries. I 
will merely put down here a few observations which 
my scanty materials and imperfect knowledge enable 
me to make. 

The country abounds with trees, which grow not 
only in detached groups or clumps on the plains 
and valleys, but spread out into extensive forests. 
They grow to a large size, and are of various kinds, 
some resembling those of Europe, others peculiar to 
the country. Of the former kind are the oak, elm, 
ash, beech, birch, planes, and various varieties of 
pine. These last, and the oak, of which there are 
several varieties, are the most plentiful, and grow to 
the greatest size. The number and variety of shrubs 
are great, but the stock of indigenous trees bearing 
fruit is very small. 

An indigenous variety of vine was found by the 
early settlers, yielding grapes of a considerable size, 


TOPOGRAPHY 


173 


but not ripening to sweetness. The fathers intro¬ 
duced the true wine-grape (Vitis vinifera ), which 
had long flourished in the Old California. Indeed, 
in many parts of California the native vine is so 
plentiful, and its produce so abundant, that brandy 
is now made from them in considerable quantity. 
The latitude of the Bay of San Francisco corresponds 
almost exactly with that of Lisbon, and is conse¬ 
quently not very much to the northward of Bor¬ 
deaux ; other parts of the country correspond in 
latitude with Madeira, and, in the opposite hemi¬ 
sphere, with the Cape of Good Hope ; so that this 
country embraces the analogues, at least, of the 
most celebrated wine countries in the world, and 
consequently offers a wide and most promising field 
for the cultivation of the grape in all its varieties. 

The missionaries, long ago, also introduced the 
European olive, which is successfully cultivated for 
its oil. 

The country is singularly free from underwood,—a 
circumstance which renders traveling through even 
the uncultivated parts much easier than in many 
other wild countries. 

No minerals of particular importance have been 
found in Upper California, nor any ores of metals. 
There are, however, a variety of rocks suited for 
building, as well as limestone slabs fit for paving, 
and plenty of clay for making bricks. 


174 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


The country abounds with animals, both indi¬ 
genous and imported. Of the former, a few are 
peculiar to that part of America, but the majority 
are found in the countries lying to the north and 
south of it. Among the indigenous animals are 
found the American lion ( Fe/is concolor ), the Ameri¬ 
can tiger ( Fe/is one a), buffaloes, stags, roes, the 
wild mountain-cat, foxes, bears, polecats, jackals, 
hares, rabbits, field-rats, &c., See. The great tame¬ 
ness of some of these animals, the facility with 
which some are caught, and the reacquired wild¬ 
ness of others, show at once their number and 
how little civilization has extended in the country. 
“Numerous herds of horses and cattle (says Langs- 
dorff) were running wild here, without any attention 
being paid to them ; the horned cattle even render 
the country not very safe for foot-passengers. 
Besides the herds, we met a great number of foxes, 
and a large wolf, which ran away frightened. 
The foxes appeared to live upon the most friendly 
terms with the young calves, and followed the cows 
about as if they had been equally their children/’ 
“We often amused ourselves (he says in another 
place) with shooting the crested partridges and the 
rabbits which abound upon the sand-hills near the 
shore. One day, we went, accompanied by twelve 
people, and conducted by thirty or forty Indians, to 
catch hares and rabbits by a sort of snaring, when, 


TOPOGRAPHY 175 

in three hours, without firing a shot, we had taken 
seventy-five, and most of them alive/* * 

Of the indigenous quadrupeds, two of the most 
interesting is that termed by the Spaniards berendo , 
and a very large deer, which has been supposed 
by travelers to be the reindeer, but which is the 
elk or moose-deer of North America. The animal 
termed berendo is also a native of Old California, 
where it is termed, by the natives, taye . “It is 
(says Venegas) about the bigness of a calf a year 
and a half old, and greatly resembles it in figure, 
except in its head, which is like that of a deer, and 
the horns very thick, resembling those of a ram; its 
hoof large, round, and cloven; its tail short/’ This 
animal is the argali , a species which seems inter¬ 
mediate between the goat and the sheep. The 
Californian species is the American argali, Ovis 
pygargus of Cuvier. They still abound in the plains 
at the foot of the mountains, and are always found 
in large herds. This animal is probably only a 
variety of the Asiatic argali, so plentiful in north and 
central Asia. The roe abounds. The large deer are 
now become scarce in California, being driven from 
their haunts by the herds of European cattle; but 
they are still hunted for the sake of their hides and 
tallow, the latter being of very excellent quality, 
much superior to that of oxen. They were very 

* Langsdorff: Voyages and Travels, vol. ii, pp. 179, 192. 


176 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


plentiful when the country was first visited by the 
Spaniards. A large herd, we are told by Father 
Palou, was encountered by Father Serra on his first 
journey from Monterey to [San] Francisco, in the great 
plain of San Bernardino. The Spaniards, he says, 
at first took them for European cattle, and marveled 
not a little how they came there. But they soon 
found out they were deer, and the soldiers of the 
party contrived to shoot several of them. They 
found their horns to measure no less than eleven 
feet from tip to tip. Another large animal, termed 
by the natives cibolo , is the wild American ox, or 
bison. It is also now banished to the wilds, but is 
sought by the hunter for its skin, which is dressed 
in a particular manner, with the hair on, and is used 
in many parts of Spanish America as a sort of bed 
or carpet. 

The otter and beaver are still to be found on all 
the rivers, lakes, and bays, but their numbers have 
greatly decreased since the country has become 
more settled. Even during the last twenty or thirty 
years the diminution of these animals is most 
marked. When Langsdorff’s ship was lying in the 
Bay of San Francisco in 1804, he says “the valu¬ 
able sea-otter was swimming about the bay in num¬ 
bers, nearly unheeded ,, ; and when Laperouse was 
there he calculated the annual power of supply of 
the presidency of Monterey alone at 10,000 skins 


TOPOGRAPHY 177 

of this animal,* and he was assured that double that 
quantity might be furnished by the whole country, f 
The Indians, at that time, caught the otters in snares, 
on land, or knocked them down with sticks, their 
want of any other boats than balsas making them very 
inexpert fishermen by sea. In 1824, Captain Beechey 
estimated the annual export of skins at 2,000. Now 
the quantity is probably less than even this; but there 
can be no doubt that the amount of produce might 
be greatly increased by a better system of hunting. 
Nothing can show the ignorance and folly that prevail 
in this country respecting all matters of commerce, 
more than the fact stated by this traveler, that, at the 
period of his visit, the inhabitants were actually 
buying otter-skins of the Russians at twenty dollars 
apiece, while the animals were swimming about 
unmolested in their own harbors ! 

We will defer any account of the domestic Euro¬ 
pean animals until we come to speak of the agri¬ 
culture and commerce. 

The feathered tribes, both of the land and water, 
are found in very great abundance. Some few are 
peculiar to California, but the majority are found 
either in the countries that lie to the south or north 
of it; but, as Captain Beechey observes, 4 ‘there are 
not many which delight either by the brilliancy or 
beauty of their plumage, or by the melody of their 

t lb., vol. ii, p. 227. 

N 


Voyage, vol. iii, p. 307. 
12 


178 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


note.” This general character of the birds curi¬ 
ously indicates the character of the country as 
intermediate between the tropical regions, where 
the brightness and variety of the plumage of birds 
are so remarkable, and the colder climates of the 
north, which have such a delightful compensation 
for the soberer colors of their birds in the excel¬ 
lence of their song. The following list, chiefly 
taken from Laperouse, Vancouver, Langsdorff, and 
Beechey, comprehends all the more common birds. 
I set them down without any particular order. 
White-headed eagle, black vulture, great and small 
falcon, goshawk, sparrow-hawk, large-horn owl, 
raven, magpie, crane, curlew, crow, oriole, wood¬ 
pecker, goatsucker, golden-crested wren, bee-eater, 
partridge, quail, jay, wood-pigeon, plover, snipe, 
razorbill, humming-bird, crane, goose, duck, cor¬ 
morant, pelican, heron, water-hen, shag, &c. 

The small-tufted partridges, peculiar to California, 
are most plentiful in the plains. They keep together 
in large flocks of three or four hundred, and are 
excellent eating. Some of the species of sea-birds 
exist in immense abundance. Captain Beechey says 
that a species of wild goose, which came from 
the north in November, may be seen “ covering 
whole acres of ground, or rising in myriads with 
a clang that may be heard at a very considerable 
distance.” 


TOPOGRAPHY 


179 


The inhabitants of Upper California, like those of 
the Lower, seem little regardful of the exhaustless 
stores of food contained in the waters of their shores. 
In the former (certainly not in the latter), Captain 
Beechey’s explanation of the fact may be admissible; 
viz., that “fish are not much sought after, in con¬ 
sequence of the productions of the land being so 
very abundant.” “Several sorts, however, (he adds,) 
are brought to the tables of the missions. In the 
Bay of Monterey we noticed the Scomber colias and 
another kind of mackerel, the torpedo and another 
species of Ram, a Chimcera , and swarms of small fish 
resembling the sardine. Mussels are found in con¬ 
siderable quantities upon the shores, and form a 
large portion of the food of the Indians bordering 
upon the coasts and rivers. At Monterey, two 
species of Haliotis , of large size, are also extremely 
abundant, and equally sought after by the Indians. 
They are found on the granite rocks forming the 
southeast part of the bay, which appears to be their 
northern limit. The natives make use of these 
shells for ornaments, and decorate their baskets 
with pieces of them. Besides these shell-fish, there 
were noticed a few Patella , limpet, Turbo , Cardium , 
and My a shells, and, among other Lepas , a rare species 
of Lepas anatifera , and a Chiton (tunicatus ?).” * 


CHAPTER IV 

SOME ACCOUNT OF THE ORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF UPPER 
CALIFORNIA.—THEIR MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 

Upper California, when first visited by the Span¬ 
iards, was, as we have already seen, inhabited by 
the same race of men as the lower province. The 
natives of Upper California, however, varied some¬ 
what, both in their physical characters and customs, 
from those of their southern brethren, but hardly 
more than they differed from one another in differ¬ 
ent districts. They were acknowledged by all to 
be a timid and feeble race, compared with the 
hardy red men of the northeastern parts of North 
America ; but remarkable variations as to their 
physical character, in regard to size more especially, 
prevail amongst them. Hence, although the gen¬ 
eral testimony of observers gives them the above 
character, such striking exceptions are noticed that 
some have been led to give to the whole population a 

different character. Thus Venegas, in speaking of the 
180 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


181 


natives of the southern province, says: “Of all the 
natives hitherto discovered, the Californians are, at 
least, equal to any in the make of their bodies/’ 
Captain Beechey says: “The stature of the Indians 
whom we saw in the missions was by no means 
diminutive. The Alchedoma are of good height, 
and the Tularenos were thought to be, generally, 
above the standard of Englishmen/’ On the contrary, 
Laperouse describes them as, in general, small and 
weak. M. Rollin, his surgeon, although he says they 
are taller than the Chilian Indians, yet gives the 
average height as five feet two and a half inches. 
Langsdorff says none of the men seen by him were 
above five feet. They are of a considerably darker 
color than the natives of the provinces more to the 
south, and what with their filthy habits and constant 
exposure to the sun, they approach the hue of the 
negro. They resemble the negro also in their large, 
projecting lips, and broad and flat noses. Their 
hair, however, is very different from that of the 
negro, being long and straight, not crisp. If left to 
grow, it hangs down to the hips, but they commonly 
cut it to the length of four or five inches, which 
makes it stick out like quills. The hair grows 
very far down towards the eyes, which makes their 
naturally low forehead look extremely low. The eye¬ 
brows are, in general, small, though in some bushy. 
The beard is also, in general, very scanty, although 


182 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


occasionally a full, flowing beard is observed, the 
causes of the difference not being well known. 

Our earliest authority—Father Palou—notices the 
difference of color between the tribes on the two 
sides of the Bay of San Francisco, and also the con¬ 
trast between the Upper and Lower Californians in 
the mode of wearing their hair. He also considers 
this custom, as also that of sprinkling ashes on the 
body, as partly dependent on causes of temporary 
occurrence. “All the natives of Upper California, 
(he says,) both men and women, cut their hair very 
short, particularly when any of their relations or 
friends die. In these cases they also put ashes on 
their heads, faces, and other parts of their bodies. 
This practice of throwing ashes on their persons 
was general among all the nations which had been 
reduced under the dominion of the Spaniards, but 
those in the south never cut their hair. On the 
contrary, they seem to have great pride in its abun¬ 
dance, and stick beads and other ornaments into 
wreaths of it bound round their heads. They are 
also in the habit of painting themselves in party- 
colored stripes of red and black; and this is also 
an emblem of mourning for their friends, for whom 
they seem to entertain strong affections.” 

Laperouse doubts whether the scantiness of beard 
so generally seen is natural or the effect of art. 
We believe that it is partly natural, but chiefly 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


183 


the effect of art; and they apply the same depilatory 
process to other parts of the body. These people 
also tattoo their bodies, but in a much less degree 
than the Indians of the islands, and the practice is 
chiefly confined to the women. They turn their 
toes inwards in walking; and their timid carriage, at 
first sight, announces their pusillanimous character. 
Both sexes, in their native state, go nearly naked, 
having only a wrapper, of greater or less extent, 
around the waist. In the winter, however, they use 
a sort of outer garment of deerskin or otter-skin, 
or of the feathers of water-fowl. These latter are 
chiefly worn by the women, and are rather inge¬ 
niously constructed. The feathers are twisted and 
tied together into a sort of rope, and these are 
then tied close together so as to have a feathery 
surface on both sides. They twist strips of otter- 
skins in the same manner, so as to have the fur on 
both sides. 

Like all savages, they are fond of ornaments for 
their persons. These consist of bits of carved wood, 
worn as ear-rings; bandeaux of feathers around the 
head; shells rounded and strung as beads; &c., &c. 
Their feather bandeaux are sometimes very beauti¬ 
ful, and the acquisition of the materials of some 
of them must be a work of great labor. Langs- 
dorff counted in one 450 tail-feathers of the golden¬ 
winged woodpecker, and as there are only two of 
these in each bird, that are used, half the number 


184 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

of birds must have been killed to make up the 
wreath. 

The moral qualities of these people are certainly 
not beyond the range of their physical, although in 
judging of these we must neither take the estimate 
from the early reports of the Spaniards, nor from 
the reports of travelers who have seen them only 
in their domesticated state. The Spaniards have 
always been anxious to establish a low estimate of 
their mental powers, as a reason and excuse for their 
manner of treating them. Still, it must be admitted 
that the Californians are, as formerly stated, a feeble- 
hearted and feeble-minded race. “It is not easy 
(says Father Venegas) for Europeans, who were 
never out of their own country, to conceive an 
adequate idea of these people ; for, even in the 
least-frequented corners of the globe, there is not 
a nation so stupid, of such contracted ideas, and 
weak, both in body and mind, as the unhappy 
Californians. Their characteristics are stupidity and 
insensibility ; want of knowledge and reflection ; 
inconstancy, impetuosity, and blindness of appetite; 
an excessive sloth, and abhorrence of all fatigue; an 
incessant love of pleasure and amusement of every 
kind, however trifling or brutal;—in fine, a most 
wretched want of everything which constitutes the 
real man, and renders him rational, inventive, tract¬ 
able, and useful to himself and society/ ’ 

In accordance with this view of the character of 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


185 


the natives, the Spaniards in the missions are in the 
habit of applying the degrading epithet of beasts 
(. bestias ) to the wild or unconverted natives, while 
they assume to themselves, and even to their con- 
vertites, the term which has generally been supposed 
to belong to the whole human family, viz., rational 
creatures (gente de razon). Certain it is that 
they, at least, have none of that boldness and 
independence of character, and very little of that 
activity, industry, and perseverance, which distin¬ 
guish the Indians nearer the pole. Even the tribes 
only a few degrees to the north are much more 
ingenious and enterprising, — indeed, in every way 
more civilized. 

The whole of the Indians at present inhabiting 
the vast plains of the Tulares, as well as those on the 
Rio Colorado and to the northeast, are of the same 
race as those which formerly inhabited the coast, and 
whose children are now the subjects or slaves of the 
missionaries. They seem to have made no advances 
towards civilization since the first discovery of their 
country. Although they possess so favored a portion 
of the earth, they almost entirely neglect tillage, and 
live by the chase and spontaneous productions of 
the fields and forest. A trifling exception must, 
indeed, be made in favor of those who live in the 
immediate vicinity of the Spanish settlements, as 
they now possess some cattle and horses. The wild 


186 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Indians are divided into small tribes, which wage 
frequent wars with each other, chiefly, it is believed, 
on account of disputes respecting the boundaries 
of the districts wherein they respectively claim the 
exclusive right of hunting, and gathering fruits and 
other means of subsistence. Their numbers, in pro¬ 
portion to the extent of the country they inhabit, 
are, like those of all tribes in such a stage of civili¬ 
zation, or rather uncivilization, very small. 

Their habitations are small round huts of rushes, 
of a temporary character, erected where they halt 
for a season, and burnt when they change their 
station. Their huts are well described by Captain 
Beechey, as well as the wretched condition of the 
inmates. “They were about thirty-five feet in 
circumference, constructed with pliable poles fixed 
in the ground, and drawn together at the top, to 
the height of twelve or fifteen feet. They are then 
interwoven with small twigs and covered with 
bulrushes, having an aperture at the side to admit 
the inhabitants, and another at the top to let out the 
smoke. The exterior appearance of these wretched 
wigwams greatly resembles a beehive. In each 
dwelling are nine or ten Indians, of both sexes and 
of all ages, nearly in a state of nudity, huddled 
round a fire kindled in the center of the apartment, 
a prey to vermin, and presenting a picture of 
misery and wretchedness seldom beheld in even the 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


187 


most savage state of society.” Although this picture 
is taken from a tribe of Indians that had left wild 
life and voluntarily come in to one of the missions, 
Captain Beechey or his companions were given 
to understand that this was the state in which they 
live when free. It is to be believed, however, that 
these people, thus coming voluntarily to join the 
mission, had been previously sophisticated from 
their native wild habits by the vicinity of the 
strangers. 

“It is true (says old Venegas) that they stand in 
no need of large rooms for depositing their furniture, 
and the various articles of their wardrobe, by which 
the greatest part of our houses is taken up. In 
removing, they take all their furniture on their 
shoulders ; for they consist only of a chest, a dish, 
a bowl made in the shape of a high-crowned hat, a 
bone which serves them for an awl in making it, 
a little piece of touchwood for kindling a fire, a 
small net in which they put their fruit and seeds, 
another, in the shape of a purse or bag fastened to 
a kind of prong across their shoulders, in which 
they carry their children, and lastly, their bow and 
arrows,—to which some, who affect elegancy, add a 
shell for drinking. Those who live near the coasts 
have also nets for fishing. This furniture the 
women carry when they remove from one place to 
another. The men have only the bow and arrows, 


188 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


with their appurtenances, as flints and feathers for 
the arrows, and sinews for the bows. But, to secure 
them, and at the same time not to incommode them 
in their march, they make holes in their ears, where 
they hang a large case, which holds the things they 
need.” (Vol. i, p. 78.) 

The following account of the mode of subsistence, 
and of some of the habits, of the natives of Upper 
California, is particularly worthy of attention, not 
only as being drawn up by a resident, but as the 
first notice of these matters that can, in any way, 
be depended on. It is taken from Father Palou’s 
work, to which we are already so largely indebted. 

“The natives of this part of the country main¬ 
tain themselves by the seeds and herbs of the field, 
to collect which, when in season, is the duty of the 
women. The seeds they grind, and of the flour 
make gruel, and sometimes a kind of pudding or 
dough, which they form into balls of the size of an 
orange. Some of this flour has an agreeable flavor, 
and is very nutritive ; that produced from a black 
seed has the taste of toasted almonds. To this diet 
they add fish, which they catch on the shores of the 
bay, and which are exceedingly good. They have, 
also, shell - fish in abundance. In addition, they 
have the produce of the chase, and wild-fowl, such 
as deer, rabbits, geese, ducks, quails, &c. It also 
sometimes happens that a whale is driven on shore, 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


189 


an event which they celebrate with great rejoicings, 
as they value its flesh and blubber above all things. 
They roast the flesh of this animal in holes made in 
the earth, and when their first voracity is appeased, 
they hang up the remainder on the trees, and cut 
pieces off as they do with the seal, which they 
esteem next to the whale. In the woods, they also 

find acorns, which they grind in like manner, and 

make gruel and balls of. There are likewise nuts 
of the same quality as in Spain, and on the high 
ground and sand - hills, strawberries of excellent 
flavor, and much larger than those of Europe, 
which ripen in the months of May and June. 
There is likewise a blackberry, which is found in 
great abundance. In the highlands there is an 
edible root, which they call amole , about the size of 
an onion, and which, after being roasted in their 
ovens, has an agreeable, sweetish taste. 

“ Another variety of this amole serves all the pur¬ 
poses of soap; but of this the natives have no great 

need, as their clothing is very scanty. This, indeed, 
is exclusively confined to the females, the men going 
without any, except what nature gave them. 

“The other sex, however, even the young girls, 
have always some covering, which is made of the tide, 
or bulrush, and which consists of one piece before 
and one behind, in the manner of a petticoat. They 
have also a piece thrown over their shoulders. The 


190 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


men, in the mornings, are accustomed to plaster 
themselves over with mud. This, they say, keeps 
out the cold; and, accordingly, when the sun grows 
hot, they wash it off. 

“These people have their marriages, but they con¬ 
sist of no other ceremony than the consent of the 
parties, and they are only binding till they disagree, 
or choose to part. They have no other mode of 
canceling a marriage than by using the phrase, ‘ I 
throw you away.’ It is nevertheless true that we 
found many couples, both young and old, who lived 
in great unity and peace, esteeming their children, 
and their children them. Parentage or relationship 
forms no obstacle to their intermarriages. It is 
very common for the wife to urge her husband to 
marry her sisters, and even their mother ; and 
the common custom is, when a man first marries, 
that he takes the whole of the sisters for wives. 
These many wives of one husband live without 
jealousies or disputes, each looking on the whole 
of the children as if they were their own, and the 
whole living in one house. In fact, the first bap¬ 
tisms made at this mission were of three children, 
all born within two months, sons of an Indian man, 
and of three sisters, to all of whom he was married, 
as well as to their mother.’’ Father Palou adds, that 
this description of the natives found on the borders 
of the Bay of San Francisco may be applied, with 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


191 


some local differences, to the whole of the Indians 
of Upper California, as, although those Indians spoke 
many different languages, yet their habits and 
customs differed but little. 

The tule, or bulrushes, with which the rivers and 
lakes of the Indian country abound, are put by 
the natives to a variety of uses. One of the most 
important or singular of these is the structure of the 
rafts or boats, if they may be so called, with which 
they navigate their lakes and rivers, and even the 
bays and shores of the ocean. This raft, which, at 
the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, and even to 
this day, constitutes almost their sole means of trans¬ 
port on the river, is termed balsa , and is perhaps 
the rudest or most primitive mode of navigation 
found among any people. The balsas are entirely 
formed of the bulrush, and are constructed by bind¬ 
ing them together into bundles of about ten feet in 
length, of considerable thickness in the middle, and 
gradually tapering to each end. These bundles or 
sheaves are then tied together at the ends until the 
whole mass is of sufficient size to buoy up two or more 
persons. The boat thus formed is about ten feet long, 
of considerable breadth in the middle, and tapering 
regularly to each end. They are propelled by paddles, 
and, from their shape, go equally well with either end 
foremost. In calm and smooth water, the center 
parts of the rafts may be dry, but more commonly 


192 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


the rowers sit on them, soaked in water, as they 
seldom rise above the surface. The greatest me¬ 
chanical ingenuity displayed by the Indians is in the 
construction of their baskets and bows and arrows. 
Some of the former, constructed of the barks of trees, 
are water-tight, and used for carrying water. They 
are likewise employed for roasting their grain before 
it is ground. This operation is performed by the 
women, over a little lighted charcoal, and is done 
with so much rapidity and address that the grain 
is thoroughly roasted without setting fire to the 
basket, although this is made of very combustible 
materials. Many of the baskets are ornamented with 
the scarlet feathers of the Oriolus phoeniceus , or with 
the black crest-feathers of the Californian partridge, 
and are really very handsome. The Californian bow 
is of a good shape, from three feet to four feet 
and a half long, neatly wrought, and strengthened 
with the tendons of deer. These not only support 
the wood, but greatly augment its elasticity. The 
arrows, as well as the bows, are neatly wrought, hav¬ 
ing points of obsidian or a kind of flint, which are 
let into the wood, and bound fast with tendons. 
The Indians are extremely skillful in the use of these 
weapons, killing the smallest birds with them. In 
doing so, however, they exhibit fully as much 
cunning and patience as skill, as they steal along 
concealed till they are very near their game, seldom 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


193 


stooping until within fifteen or twenty paces. They 
show particular ingenuity and skill in their manner 
of killing deer. This has been noticed by all trav¬ 
elers, and is still practiced precisely in the same 
manner. 

‘‘We saw an Indian (says Laperouse) with a 
stag’s head fixed upon his own, walk on all-fours as 
if he were browsing the grass, and he played this 
pantomime to such perfection that all our hunters 
would have fired at him at thirty paces had they 
not been prevented. In this manner they approach 
herds of stags within a very small distance, and kill 
them with a flight of arrows.” The same exhibition 
was made to Vancouver and Langsdorff. Laperouse 
further says : “By these means they can, nearly to 
a certainty, get within two or three yards of the 
deer, when they take an opportunity of its attention 
being directed to some other object, and discharge 
their arrows from their secreted bows, which is done 
in a very stooping attitude.” Captain Beechey says, 
in addition, that the Indian not only imitates the 
actions but the voice of the deer, and seldom fails 
to entice several of the herd within his reach. 

Equal ingenuity is shown by them in catching 
water-fowl. The following is the account of this 
given by Captain Beechey: “They construct large 
nets with bulrushes, and repair to such rivers as are 
the resort of their game, where they fix a long pole 

13 o 


194 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


upright on each bank, with one end of the net 
attached to the pole on the opposite side of the river 
to themselves. Several artificial ducks, made of 
rushes, are then set afloat upon the water between 
the poles, as a decoy, and the Indians, who have 
a line fastened to one end of the net, and passed 
through a hole in the upper end of the pole that is 
near them, wait the arrival of their game in conceal¬ 
ment. When the birds approach, they suddenly 
extend the net across the river by pulling upon the 
line, and intercept them in their flight, when they 
fall stunned into a large purse in the net, and are 
captured. They also spread nets across their rivers 
in the evening, in order that the birds may become 
entangled in them as they fly.” * 

It is difficult to come at the real religion of the 
natives, on account of the general ignorance of their 
language. Laperouse says they have no knowledge 
of a god or future state; more recent travelers 
assert that they are idolators, worshiping the sun, 
and believing in both a good and an evil spirit, 
whom they seek occasionally to propitiate. Father 
Palou gives a somewhat different account of their 
religion. “ In none of the missions (he says) has 
there been observed any idolatry whatever, — only 
a mere negative infidelity; neither have they shown 
the least difficulty in believing any of our mysteries. 

* Vol. ii, p. 75. 


ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


195 


We have only observed amongst them some super¬ 
stitions and vain observances, and occasionally, 
among the old, some pretensions to supernatural 
power; as, that they had the power to send the 
rains, thunder, &c. ; that they had dominion over 
the whales, &c. But these pretenders were seldom 
credited even by their own tribes, and they were 
believed to put forth these pretensions for the 
purpose of obtaining presents. One superstition, 
however, seemed firmly believed by all; viz., that 
any sickness with which they were afflicted arose 
from the incantations of their enemies.’’ 

The Indians seem to have some notion of a future 
state. About San Francisco they burn their dead, 
after adorning the corpse with flowers, feathers, &c., 
and laying beside it a bow and arrows. The cere¬ 
mony is attended with loud shouting and other 
savage demonstrations of regret. More to the south¬ 
ward they always bury their dead; and Father Palou 
says that, in his time, there were, near Santa 
Barbara, inclosed cemeteries for the purpose. 

It is but justice to these poor people to state that 
their affections seem very strong, as exhibited in 
the extreme tenderness and love shown by the 
parents to their children, and the general care of the 
sick and wounded, and also the remarkable strength 
of their friendships. Long after the loss of friends, 
they shed tears on their being brought to their 


196 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


remembrance, and they conceive it to be a great 
offense for any one to name them in their presence. 
Laperouse says that although they neither eat their 
prisoners, nor their enemies killed in battle, yet 
that when they had vanquished and put to death, 
upon the field of battle, chiefs or very courageous 
men, they will eat some pieces of them, less as a 
sign of hatred or revenge, than as a homage which 
they pay to their valor, and from the belief, com¬ 
mon to them with many other savages, that this 
food will increase their own courage. The same 
authority informs us that they scalp their slain 
enemies, and pluck out their eyes, which they have 
the art of preserving free from decay, and carefully 
keep as precious signs of their victory. 

The Indians, in their native state, are very healthy, 
notwithstanding their filthy habits. It is very far 
otherwise in their domesticated state. Both with 
the wild and the domesticated tribes, the hot-air bath, 
or temescal, is the sovereign remedy for most of 
their diseases. This is administered in the following 
manner. A round hovel or oven of mud is built for 
the purpose. It has a small opening in the side 
to enter by, and a smaller one at the top for the 
escape of the smoke. Several persons enter this at 
the same time, quite naked, and make a fire close 
to the door, on the inside. They continue to add 
fresh wood to the fire as long as they can bear the 





The Temescal, or Hot-air Bath, of Upper California 
























ORIGINAL INHABITANTS 


197 


heat. This soon throws them into a profuse perspi¬ 
ration over their whole frame. “They wring their 
hair, (says Captain Beechey,) and scrape their skin 
with a sharp piece of wood or an iron hoop, in the 
same manner as coach-horses are sometimes treated 
when they come in heated, and then plunge into 
a river or pond of cold water, which they always 
take care shall be near the temescal.” A variety 
of this process — a hot-sand bath in place of a hot¬ 
air bath—is described by M. Rollin, but it seems 
to be more prevalent in the countries farther north. 
“The manner of preparing the temescal (he says) 
consists in scooping a trench in the sand, two feet 
wide, one foot deep, and of a length proportioned 
to the size of the patient. A fire is then made 
through the whole extent of it, as well as upon the 
sand which was dug out of the hollow. When the 
whole is thoroughly heated, the fire is removed and 
the sand stirred about, that the warmth may be 
equally diffused. The sick person is then stripped, 
laid down in the trench, and covered up to his chin 
with heated sand. In this position a very profuse 
sweat soon breaks out, which gradually dimin¬ 
ishes according as the sand cools. The patient 
then rises and bathes in the sea or nearest river. 
This process is repeated until a complete cure is 
obtained.” * 


* Laperouse, vol. iii. 


198 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


It is impossible to form any trustworthy opinion 
of the amount of the Indian population in the other 
parts of California, not in the immediate possession 
of the missions. 







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CHAPTER V 


ACCOUNT OF THE MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS. —PRESENT 
STATE OF THE INDIANS IN THEM. —REMARKS ON THE 
MISSIONARY SYSTEM GENERALLY, AND ON THE CONVERSION 
OF INFIDELS 

From the feeble and mild physical and moral 
characters of the aboriginal natives of California, 
as described in the preceding chapter, the success of 
the missionaries in subjecting them to their temporal 
and spiritual dominion, although certainly remark¬ 
able, is yet very easily understood. Much credit 
is unquestionably due to them, and the result 
exhibits, in a striking point of view, the efficacy of 
the system followed by the fathers, more especially 
when compared with that adopted by missionaries 
in other countries. Still, it will hardly be believed 
that had the Jesuits of Lower California or the 
Franciscans of the upper province (and the same 
may be said of the Jesuits in Paraguay) been set 
down amid many of the other tribes of the same 
continent, and yet more, among the fierce races of the 
islands and continents in the southern hemisphere, 
they would never have succeeded in civilizing — or 
to avoid dispute, domesticating — them, but would 
have been destroyed or driven from the country in 

199 


200 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


a short space of time. Their lot, however, was, 
fortunately, different ; and assuredly there are few 
events in history more remarkable, on the whole, 
or more interesting, than the transformation, on the 
great scale, wrought by the Jesuits and Franciscans 
in Paraguay and California. In the present chap¬ 
ter I purpose giving an account of the Indians in 
their converted or domesticated state, but must 
previously detail the progress of the different mis¬ 
sionary establishments, and their actual condition. 

Humboldt says that in 1776 there were eight 
villages or missions ; and in 1790, eleven ; and in 
1802, eighteen. According to Laperouse, (who vis¬ 
ited California in that year,) there were ten missions 
in 1786, and the number of converted or domesticated 
Indians was 5,143. One of the missions — Santa 
Barbara — was only just founded, and contained no 
converts. Vancouver visited the coast in 1793, and 
found that several new missions had been founded 
since the visit of Laperouse ; viz., Santa Cruz, Santa 
Rosa [La Purisima Concepcion], and La Soledad. 

The following authentic document, supplied by 
Humboldt, gives the names of the missions, and 
dates of their foundation, respectively, and the popu¬ 
lation in the year 1802, or rather, the number of 
the co?iverted Indians , the other classes not being 
mentioned. It is extracted from the Essay on New 
Spain. 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 201 


Foun¬ 

dation 

Missions 

Males 

Females 

Total 

1769 

San Diego de Alcala. 

737 

822 

1,559 

1798 

San Luis Rey de Francia. 

256 

276 

532 

1776 

San Juan Capistrano. 

502 

511 

1,013 

1771 

San Gabriel Arcangel. 

532 

515 

1,047 

1797 

San Fernando Rey de Espana. 

317 

297 

614 

1782 

San Buenaventura. 

436 

502 

938 

1786 

Santa Barbara. 

521 

572 

1,093 

1787 

La Purisima Concepcion. 

457 

571 

1,028 

1772 

San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. 

374 

325 

699 

1797 

San Miguel Arcangel. 

309 

305 

614 

1791 

Nuestra Senora de la Soledad. 

296 

267 

563 

1771 

San Antonio de Padua. 

568 

484 

1,052 

1770 

San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey. 

376 

312 

688 

1797 

San Juan Bautista. 

530 

428 

958 

1791 

Santa Cruz. 

238 

199 

437 

1777 

Santa Clara de Asis. 

736 

555 

1,291 

1797 

San Jose . 

327 

295 

622 

1776 

San Francisco de Asis. 

433 

381 

814 

Totals. 

7,945 

7,617 

15,562 


[in the original edition, two errors appear in the Foundation column; viz., 1794 instead of 1791 (Santa 
Cruz), and 1779 instead of 1776 (San Francisco). Also, the names of the missions were much abbreviated. 
The error “Santa Rosa” (p. 200) is owing to Vancouver’s “ Sta Rosa la Purissima” (vol. ii, p. 489).] 

Humboldt informs us that he could not ascertain 
the numbers of the other classes of the population 
in 1802, whether whites, mestizos, or mulattoes, 
either in the presidios or in the service of the 

fathers, but he believed the whole number did not 

exceed 1,300. This would give the whole popula¬ 
tion of Upper California, at that time, at something 
less than 17,000 (16,862). 

The number of missions founded to the present 

time is twenty-one, and the total amount of the 
Indian population in these, in the year 1831, was 

18,683. The number of other classes, exclusive of 
the Indians, that is, of the garrison and free settlers, 
was 4,342,—making a total of 23,025 for the whole 




























202 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


country. The following table gives an accurate state¬ 
ment of all classes of the population, and in every 
locality, in the year just mentioned. The enumeration 
will hold nearly good for the present time (1835). 


Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, 

People of All Classes and Ages 

and Towns 

Men 

Women 

Bovs 

Girls 

Total 


Jurisdiction of San Francisco 
Presidio of San Francisco .... 
Town of San Jose de Guadalupe. 
Mission of San Francisco Solano . 

Id. of San Rafael Arcangel . . 

Id. of San Francisco de Asis 
Id. of Santa Clara de Asis . 

Id. of San Jose . 

Id. of Santa Cruz. 

Jurisdiction of Monterey 

Presidio of Monterey. 

Village of Branciforte. 

.Mission of San Juan Bautista .... 

Id. of SanCarlosBorromeodeMonterey 

Id. of Nuestra Senora de la Soledad 

Id. of San Antonio de Padua . 

Id. of San Miguel Arcangel 

Id. of San Luis Obispo de Tolosa . 

Jurisdiction of Santa Barbara 
Presidio of Santa Barbara .... 
Mission of La Purisima Concepcion. 

Id. of Santa Ines. 

Id. of Santa Barbara. 

Id. of San Buenaventura .... 

Id. of San Fernando Rey de Espana 

Town of La Reina de los Angeles . 

Jurisdiction of San Diego 

Presidio of San Diego. 

Mission of San Gabriel Arcangel 
Id. of San Juan Capistrano . 

Id. of San Luis Rey de Francia 
Id. of San Diego de Alcala . 

Totals. 


124 

85 

89 

73 

371 

166 

145 

103 

110 

524 

285 

242 

88 

90 

705 

406 

410 

105 

106 

1,027 

146 

65 

13 

13 

237 

752 

491 

68 

60 

1,371 

823 

659 

100 

145 

1,727 

222 

94 

30 

20 

366 

311 

190 

110 

97 

708 

52 

34 

27 

17 

130 

480 

351 

85 

71 

987 

102 

79 

34 

21 

236 

210 

81 

23 

20 

334 

394 

209 

51 

17 

671 

349 

292 

46 

61 

748 

211 

103 

8 

7 

329 

167 

120 

162 

164 

613 

151 

218 

47 

34 

450 

142 

136 

82 

96 

456 

374 

267 

51 

70 

762 

383 

283 

66 

59 

791 

249 

226 

177 

181 

833 

552 

421 

213 

202 

1,388 

2951 





574 1 

1,911 

683 

621 

5,686* 

464 f 




1,138 ^ 





750 

520 

162 

146 

1,575 

10,272 

7,632 

2,623 

2,498 

23,025 


* We are unable to give these latter details accurately, the copy having 
accidentally caught fire when in the hands of the printer. 




































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MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 203 


In illustration of the preceding table, as well as 
to exhibit the general economy of the missions, it 
is necessary to give some account of the various 
departments or classes in which the population is 
distributed. 

Presidencies, or Presidios. — Upper California 
is divided into four military districts, the head¬ 
quarters of which are respectively denominated 
the presidio of the district or jurisdiction. At each 
of these, troops are stationed, under the authority 
of a military commandant. These presidencies, as 
seen in the table, are San Francisco, Monterey, 
Santa Barbara, and San Diego. The buildings at 
the different stations are nearly all of the same class 
and dimensions. They consist of a square of about 
one hundred yards each side, inclosed by a wall of 
unburnt bricks, called adobes , of about four yards 
in height, within which are the residence of the 
commandant, lodging for the troops, the church, 
warehouses, &c. A short distance from the presidios 
are what they choose to call the castillos , or forts. 
That of San Francisco, which is thought to be the 
most formidable, is about a mile distant from the 
presidio. It is, however, of little use, both from its 
bad construction and too elevated situation. It is 
meant to protect the entrance to the harbor, but 
in its present state it can neither protect nor annoy 
anything. That of Monterey, although its situation 


204 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


is good for commanding the anchorage, yet, as it 
has no parapet, and only a few guns of small caliber 
and in very bad condition, is of no consequence. 
At Santa Barbara, two old guns lie on an esplanade, 
but are quite unserviceable. The castillo of San Diego 
is about five miles from the presidio. Its locality 
renders it of no use, but there are good situations 
in the intricate entrance to the harbor which could 
be fortified so as easily to prevent the entrance 
of an enemy. Those fortifications resemble the 
innumerable others which the Spaniards thought 
necessary to erect in all their colonies. A fort was 
always thought absolutely necessary at every sup¬ 
posed vulnerable point; but, so that a castillo was 
once erected, with a few guns, generally of heavy 
metal, the duty of the government and the com¬ 
mandant for the time being was considered as ful¬ 
filled, and the rot and the rust were forever after 
left to their natural province of destruction. It is 
nearly a century since anything has been done for 
the castillos of California. A good practical illus¬ 
tration of the strength of these forts was afforded 
in the year 1819, when a pirate-vessel from Buenos 
Ayres landed a few men at Monterey, captured the 
fort, destroyed most of its guns, and pillaged and 
burnt the town. 

In each of the presidios there are a certain num¬ 
ber of soldiers stationed, who have always been 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 205 


troops of an inferior description. Those that went 
with the first settlers were a sort of militia raised 
on the Indian borders of Sonora, and denominated 
‘ ‘ compamas de cueras , ’ ’ (literally, hide companies ,) 

from their wearing a sort of cuirass of hides ( cuera ), 
in order to defend them from the arrows of the 
Indians. The number of troops assigned to each 
presidio was two hundred and fifty, but this number 
was never complete. They consisted entirely of horse. 
They were always badly clothed, and worse paid-, so 
that their appearance was that of tattered ragamuffins; 
and from their undisciplined state and idle habits, 
they were good for nothing except to retake any 
of the miserable Indians who might escape from 
the missions, which was indeed their chief employ¬ 
ment. The policy of the missionaries always was 
to prevent the increase of any considerable popula¬ 
tion, except at their own missions ; and the soldiers 
were not allowed to marry, except by express per¬ 
mission from the king, and this was, of course, not 
easily obtained ; so that those men lived in a sort 
of celibacy which corresponded with the other 
monastic establishments. In the present day, things 
are somewhat altered, but not much for the better; 
for whatever soldiers are sent to California are the 
refuse of the Mexican army, and most frequently 
are deserters, mutineers, or men guilty of military 
crimes. Those presidios are also appropriated as 


206 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


receptacles for transported felons ; so that California 
is the Botany Bay of Mexico. 

Ranchos, or National Farms. — In the 
neighborhood of each presidio, and generally at 
the distance of four or five leagues, certain farms, 
called “ ranchos/’ are set apart for the use of the 
soldiers. These, on their first establishment, were 
also meant to be depositories of tithes to be collected 
in cattle and grain by the government; but, as 
the missions have never been liable to tithes, and the 
other settlements are of small value, this branch 
of revenue was never of much consequence, and 
those ranchos only contain a few cattle belonging 
to the presidios. They are under the direction of 
the commandants of the respective presidios. 

Towns, or “ Pueblos. ”—There are only three 
free towns independent of the missions and presidios 
in all Upper California. These towns owe their 
origin to the retirement of the old Spanish or creole 
soldiers in the service of the missions, who, after a 
certain length of service, become entitled to exemp¬ 
tion from any further military services, and have 
permission either to return to their native land or 
to settle in the country. Most of these soldiers 
are married and have families, and when the 
retirement of the pueblos is preferred, grants of 
land, with some necessary articles, are given them 
to commence their new occupation of husbandry, 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 207 


which, with the aid of the natives, they generally 
cultivate successfully. The most fertile spots have 
been generally chosen for the pueblos, and the 
produce of these not only supports the inhabitants 
of the place, but supplies the wants of the neigh¬ 
boring mission and presidio. 

The principal pueblo is Nuestra Senora de /os 
Angeles , situated about eight miles from the mis¬ 
sion of San Gabriel, and about twenty miles from 
a roadstead on the Pacific, called San Pedro. The 
population of the town is about fifteen hundred. 
It has an alcalde or mayor, three regidores, and a 
sindico : this composes its ayuntamiento, or town 
council. The vicinity is occupied by vineyards and 
maize-fields, and as the lands are level and highly 
fertile, it is capable of great agricultural improve¬ 
ment. This town has been proposed as .the capital 
of the country; and as the Spaniards have, in their 
colonies, always chosen an inland situation for their 
capital towns, this scheme might have been adopted 
if the country had remained in their hands, but it is 
to be presumed that Monterey will, under the present 
circumstances, be considered as the capital until a 
population shall arise on the Bay of San Francisco, 
when, from its superiority as a harbor, the capital 
town will ultimately, no doubt, be fixed there. 

The second town is San Jose , situated about a 
league from the mission of Santa Clara, and twenty 


208 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


leagues from the Bay of San Francisco. A small 
river, or, rather, large rivulet, passes by it, and 
discharges itself into that bay. The inhabitants 
amount to about six hundred, and it has its alcalde 
and council, the same as Los Angeles. The inhabi¬ 
tants occupy themselves in the cultivation of wheat 
and other grain ; they have a considerable number 
of cattle, and trade in the skins and tallow of deer, 
which are found in great numbers in this district. 
The situation of this town is in a very extensive 
plain, and in a part of the country highly adapted 
for the cultivation of wheat; but in some places it 
is deficient in water, at least for the purpose of irri¬ 
gation, which, in many parts of California, is neces¬ 
sary for successful cultivation, owing to the long 
droughts which are experienced at certain seasons 
of the year. In this neighborhood there are still 
large tracts of fine land unoccupied by the missions. 

The third town is called Branciforte. It is about 
a mile distant from the mission of Santa Cruz, a 
mile and a half from the shore of the Bay of Monte¬ 
rey, and eighteen leagues from the presidio of that 
name. Its inhabitants do not much exceed a hun¬ 
dred and fifty, and their occupation is rural labor. 
This town has also its alcalde, but is dependent on 
the military commandant of Monterey. 

This account of the few free towns, or rather 
villages, that exist in Upper California, shows how 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 209 


little progress population has made in this country 
by free settlers. This arises not only from the inap¬ 
titude. of the Spaniards for colonizing a country 
of this description, but also from the jealousy of 
the missionaries, who arrogated to themselves the 
property of almost the whole of the land, so that 
settlers could only establish themselves by their 
toleration. By this means, only a select number 
were admitted, and these firm adherents of the 
missionaries, who would blindly obey their mandates, 
which mandates, with the inquisition in their 
neighborhood, were not to be trifled with. The 
whole of the free settlers even at this time do not 
exceed five thousand. In this number is included 
the whole population of white and mixed castes 
who live in the country, in the free villages, and at 
the missions and presidios, exclusive of the Indians 
bound to the missions. Of these free settlers, many 
live at the missions and on their lands, and can 
hardly be said to be independent of them. It is 
obvious that it is from the free white and creole 
races, and from the introduction of fresh colonists, 
the future population of California must proceed; 
for the enslaved Indians are already on the decline, 
and on the dissolution of the missionary system 
they will dwindle away, and soon become almost 
extinguished. 

Nothing can be more remarkable than the physical 

14 p 


210 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


difference between the free creole race (including 
the mestizos or those of mixed blood) and the 
enslaved Indians of the missions. The creoles are 
a remarkably fine set of people, of large stature, 
and of as athletic form as perhaps any other in the 
world. I have seen natives of Upper California 
who might pass for the fabled giants of Patagonia ; 
and when they go, at times, to the Mexican coast, 
the contrast between them and the emaciated inhab¬ 
itants of the aguish shores of the more southern 
country is most conspicuous. 

The Missions. — These establishments are all 
formed on the same plan, and consequently greatly 
resemble each other. They vary, however, accord¬ 
ing to their extent, standing, and population, and 
also according to the individual character of the 
directing fathers for the time being. Each mission 
is governed by one or more missionaries, all friars 
of the order San Francisco. One of these is styled 
prefect , and not president, as was formerly the 
case. Through him is (or was) carried on all 
the public correspondence with the government of 
Mexico; but he has no power superior to the 
others, and each may be said to be absolute in his 
own mission. Each mission has allotted to it, in 
the first instance, a tract of land of about fifteen 
miles square, which is generally fertile, and well 
suited for husbandry. This land is set apart for the 


















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MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 211 


general uses of the mission, part being cultivated, 
and part left in its natural condition and occupied 
as grazing-ground. The buildings of the mission 
are, like the presidio, all on the same general plan, 
but are varied according to the locality and number 
of the inhabitants. Most of the missionary villages 
or residences are surrounded by a high wall inclos¬ 
ing the whole; others have no such protection, but 
consist of open rows of streets of little huts built of 
bricks. Some of these are tiled and whitewashed, and 
look neat and comfortable. Others are dirty and in 
disrepair, and in every way uncomfortable. In the 
mission of Santa Clara, which in several respects 
excels the others, the houses of the Indians form 
five rows or streets, which, compared with the old 
straw huts, must be considered really comfortable; 
and this is the greatest improvement that has taken 
place in the domestic civilization of these people at 
the missions. The buildings are generally built in 
the form of a square, or part of a square, the church 
usually forming a portion of the elevation. The 
apartments of the fathers, which are often spacious, 
the granaries, and workshops, compose the remainder. 
The Indian population generally live in huts, at 
about two hundred yards distant from the principal 
edifices. These huts are sometimes made of adobes, 
but the Indians are often left to raise them on 
their own plan; viz., of rough poles erected into 


212 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


a conical figure of about four yards in circum¬ 
ference at the base, covered with dry grass, and a 
small aperture for the entrance. When the huts 
decay, they set them on fire, and erect new ones, 
which is only the work of a day. In these huts the 
married part of the community live, the unmarried 
of both sexes being kept, each sex separate, in large, 
barn-like apartments, where they work under strict 
supervision. The storehouses and workshops, at 
some of the larger missions, are of great extent and 
variety. There may be seen a place for melting 
tallow, one for making soap, workshops for smiths, 
carpenters, &c., storehouses for the articles manu¬ 
factured and the produce of the farms, viz., stores 
for tallow, soap, butter, salt, wool, hides, wheat, 
peas, beans, &c., &c., &c. Four or five soldiers have 
their residence a few yards farther off, and are meant 
to watch the Indians and to keep order; but they 
are generally lazy, idle fellows, and often give the 
missionary more trouble than all his Indians, and 
instead of rendering assistance, increase his troubles. 
But, in all Spanish countries, nothing can possibly 
be done without soldiers, and the idea of having 
any public establishment without a guard of soldiers 
would appear quite ridiculous. 

The church is, of course, the main object of 
attraction at all the missions, and is often gaudily 
decorated. In some of the missions, where there is 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 213 


good building-stone in the vicinity, the external 
appearance of the sacred building is not unseemly; 
in other missions the exterior is very rude. In all of 
them, the interior is richer than the outside promises. 
In several there are pictures, and the subject of 
these is generally representations of heaven or hell, 
glaringly colored, purposely, to strike the rude 
senses of the Indians. Laperouse says that the 
picture of hell in the church of San Carlos has, in 
this way, done incalculable service in promoting 
conversion, and well remarks that the Protestant 
mode of worship, which forbids images and pom¬ 
pous ceremonies, could not make any progress 
among these people. He is of opinion that the 
picture of paradise in the same church has exerted 
comparatively little effect, on account of its tame¬ 
ness ; but Langsdorff tells of wonders in this way 
wrought by a figure of the Virgin represented as 
springing from the coronal of leaves of the Agave 
Americana , or great American aloe, instead of the 
ordinary stem ! The priests also take care to be 
provided with rich dresses, for the same purpose of 
inspiring awe. 

The object of the whole of the Californian or 
missionary system being the conversion of the 
Indians, and the training of them up, in some sort, 
to a civilized life, the constant care of the fathers 
is, and ever has been, directed towards these ends. 


214 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

The children born in the missions are, of course, 
devoted to the missionary discipline from their 
infancy; but the zeal of the fathers is constantly 
looking out for converts from among the wild tribes 
on the borders of their territories. Formerly, when 
the missionaries were strangers in the land, and the 
natives were numerous, and spread around their 
settlements, there was no lack of materials on 
which to exercise their converting zeal. But for 
a good many years the case has been different. 
The natives have become fewer in number, and 
have been gradually receding from the missionary 
territory. The very progress of conversion has 
necessarily occasioned this. New means of obtaining 
converts have been therefore had recourse to ; and 
there can be no doubt that some of these means 
go far beyond the bounds of legitimate persuasion. 
It would be injustice to tax the fathers with openly 
sanctioning, much less directing, the more severe of 
these means; yet they cannot be altogether ignorant 
of them, and must be regarded as encouraging 
them indirectly. And, indeed, it must be admitted 
that, with their particular views of the efficacy of 
baptism and ceremonial profession of Christianity 
in saving souls, the conversion of the Indians even 
by force can hardly be otherwise regarded by them 
than as the greatest of benefits conferred on these 
people, and therefore justifying some severity in 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 215 


effecting it. No one who has seen or known any¬ 
thing of the singular humanity and benevolence of 
these good fathers will for a moment believe that 
they could sanction the actual cruelties and blood¬ 
shed occasionally wrought in their name by the 
military and more zealous converts. Certain it is, 
however, that every encouragement is held out to all 
who shall bring in gentiles for conversion. Converts 
that can be depended on are stationed in the vicinity 
of the haunts occupied by their wild brethren, whose 
business it is to represent their own condition in 
the most favorable light possible, with the view 
of inducing them to join the missionary fold. 
Others are permitted to pay visits to their kindred 
of more distant tribes, with the same views, and 
are almost expected to bring back converts with 
them. “At a particular period of the year, also,” 
we are told by Captain Beechey, “when the Indians 
can be spared from the agricultural concerns of the 
establishment, many of them are permitted to take 
the launch of the mission and make excursions to 
the Indian territory. . . . On these occasions the 
padres desire them to induce as many of their un¬ 
converted brethren as possible to accompany them 
back to the mission, of course implying that this is 
to be done only by persuasion; but the boat being 
furnished with a cannon and musketry, and in every 
respect equipped for war, it too often happens that 


216 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


the neophytes and the gente de razon , who super¬ 
intend the direction of the boat, avail themselves 
of their superiority, with the desire of ingratiating 
themselves with their masters, and of receiving 
a reward. There are, besides, repeated acts of 
aggression which it is necessary to punish, all of 
which furnish proselytes. Women and children 
are generally the first objects of capture, as their 
husbands and parents sometimes voluntarily follow 
them into captivity/ ’ * 

One of these proselytizing expeditions into the 
Indian territory occurred during the period of Cap¬ 
tain Beechey’s visit in 1826, which ended in a battle, 
with the loss, in the first instance, of thirty-four of 
the converted, and eventually in the gain (by a 
second expedition, sent to avenge the losses of the 
first) of forty women and children of the invaded 
tribes. These were immediately enrolled in the 
list of the mission, and were nearly as immediately 
converted into Christians. The process by which 
this was effected is so graphically described by Cap¬ 
tain Beechey, that it would be doing him injustice 
to use any words but his own. 

“I happened (he says) to visit the mission about 
this time, and saw these unfortunate beings under 
tuition. They were clothed in blankets, and arranged 
in a row before a blind Indian, who understood 

* Beechey: Voyage to the Pacific, vol. ii, p. 24. 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 217 


their dialect, and was assisted by an alcalde to keep 
order. Their tutor began by desiring them to kneel, 
informing them that he was going to teach them 
the names of the persons composing the Trinity, 
and that they were to repeat in Spanish what he 
dictated. The neophytes being thus arranged, the 
speaker began, ‘ Santisima Trinidad, — Dios, Jesu 
Cristo, Espiritu Santo,’ pausing between each name 
to listen if the simple Indians, who had never spoken 
a Spanish word before, pronounced it correctly, or 
anything near the mark. After they had repeated 
these names satisfactorily, their blind tutor, after 
a pause, added ‘ Santos,’ and recapitulated the 
names of a great many saints; which finished 
the morning’s tuition.” * 

After a few days, no doubt, these promising pupils 
were christened, and admitted to all the benefits 
and privileges of Christians and gente de ra^on. 
Indeed, I believe that the act of making the cross, 
and kneeling at proper times, and other such-like 
mechanical rites, constitute no small part of the 
religion of these poor people. The rapidity of 
the conversion is, however, frequently stimulated 
by practices much in accordance with the primary 
kidnaping of the subjects. “ If, as not infrequently 
happens, any of the captured Indians show a 
repugnance to conversion, it is the practice to 

* Beechey: Voyage to the Pacific, vol. ii, p. 30. 


218 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


imprison them for a few days, and then to allow 
them to breathe a little fresh air in a walk round the 
mission, to observe the happy mode of life of their 
converted countrymen; after which they are again 
shut up, and thus continue incarcerated until they 
declare their readiness to renounce the religion of 
their forefathers.'’ * As might be believed, the 
ceremonial exercises of the Roman Catholic religion 
occupy a considerable share of the time of these 
people. Mass is performed twice daily, besides high- 
days and holidays, when the ceremonies are much 
grander and of longer duration; and at all the per¬ 
formances every Indian is obliged to attend, under 
the penalty of a whipping; and the same method of 
enforcing proper discipline, as in kneeling at proper 
times, keeping silence, &c., is not excluded from the 
church service itself. In the aisles and passages of 
the church, zealous beadles of the converted race 
are stationed, armed with sundry weapons of potent 
influence in effecting silence and attention, and 
which are not sparingly used on the refractory or 
inattentive. These consist of sticks and whips, long 
goads, See., and they are not idle in the hands of the 
officials that sway them. 

The following is the course of proceedings in the 
missions on ordinary occasions; and as there is 
little or no variety in their monotonous life, the 


* Beechey, vol. ii, p. 18. 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 219 


picture may be received as a general one. It was 
thus witnessed by Laperouse, and it is equally extant 
at the present time. The Indians, as well as the 
missionaries, rise with the sun and go to mass, which 
lasts about an hour. While this is in progress, the 
breakfast is prepared, — the favorite atole, or pottage, 
which consists of barley flour, the grain being 
roasted previously to grinding. It is cooked in 
large kettles, and is seasoned with neither salt nor 
butter. Every cottage or hut sends for the allow¬ 
ance for all its inmates, which is carried home in 
one of their bark baskets. Any overplus that 
remains is distributed among the children, as a reward 
for good behavior, particularly for good lessons 
in the catechism. After breakfast, which lasts 
about three quarters of an hour, they proceed to 
their labors, either out of doors or within. At 
noon, the dinner is announced by a bell, and the 
Indians, quitting their work, go and receive their 
rations as at breakfast-time. The mess now served 
is somewhat of the same kind as the former, only 
varied by the addition of maize, peas, and beans. 
It is named pozole. After dinner, they return to 
their work, from two to four or five. Afterwards, 
they attend evening mass, which lasts nearly an hour, 
and the. day is finished by another supply of atole, 
as at breakfast. In the intervals of the meals and 
prayers, the Indians are, of course, variously employed. 


220 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


according to their trade or occupation ; that is 
to say, either in agricultural labors, according to 
the season, or in the storerooms, magazines, and 
laboratories of the mission. The women are much 
occupied in spinning, and other little household 
labors; the men, in combing wool, weaving, melting 
tallow, &c., or as carpenters, shoemakers, brick¬ 
layers, blacksmiths, &c. One of the principal 
occupations of the missions is the manufacturing a 
coarse sort of cloth from the wool of their own 
sheep, for the purpose of clothing the Indians. 
The grinding the corn is left almost entirely to the 
women, and is still performed by a hand-mill. All 
the girls and widows are kept in separate houses 
during the day, while at work, being only permitted 
to go out occasionally, like boys at school. The 
unmarried of both sexes, as well adults as children, 
are carefully locked up at night, in separate houses, 
the keys being left in the keeping of the fathers ; 
and when any breach of this rule is detected, the 
culprits, of both sexes, are severely punished by whip¬ 
ping,— the men in public, the women privately. 

It is obvious from all this that these poor people 
are, in fact, slaves under another name; and it is no 
wonder that Laperouse found the resemblance pain¬ 
fully striking between their condition and that of 
the negro slaves of the West Indies. Sometimes, 
although rarely, they attempt to break their bonds, 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 221 


and escape into their original haunts. But this is of 
rare occurrence, as, independently of the difficulty 
of escaping, they are so simple as to believe that 
they have hardly the power to do so, after being 
baptized, regarding the ceremony of baptism as a sort 
of spell which could not be broken. Occasionally, 
however, they overcome all imaginary and real 
obstacles, and effect their escape. In such cases, 
the runaway is immediately pursued, and as it 
is always known to which tribe he belongs, and 
as, owing to the enmity subsisting among the 
tribes, he will not be received by another, he is 
almost always found, and surrendered to the pursuers 
by his pusillanimous countrymen. When brought 
back to the mission, he is always first flogged, and 
then has an iron clog attached to one of his legs, 
which has the effect of preventing his running away, 
and marking him out in terrorem to others. 

Notwithstanding this dark picture of the general 
mode of life of the converted Indians, it must not 
be imagined that it is one of much real hardship, or 
that it is generally thought so by the parties them¬ 
selves. On the contrary, it accords too well with 
the native indolence of their character and total 
defect of all independent spirit. It is true that 
the system tends most powerfully to keep up and 
to aggravate the natural defects in their character, 
and to frustrate all prospect of true civilization and 


222 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

all rational improvement. Still, it cannot be said 
that they are discontented. If they lead the life of 
groveling animals, they have, at least, their negative 
happiness. If they are cribbed like the stalled ox, 
they are fed like him, and they have hardly more 
care or fear for the future than he has. 

The bliss is theirs 

Of that entire dependence that prepares 

Entire submission, let what may befall. . . . 

No forecast, no anxieties, have they: 

The Jesuit governs and instructs and guides; 

Food, raiment, shelter, safety, he provides: 

Their part it is to honor and obey, 

Like children under wise paternal sway.* 

Their labor is very light, and they have much 
leisure time to waste in their beloved inaction, or 
in the rude pastimes of their aboriginal state. These 
last consist chiefly of dances and certain games, and 
gambling of various kinds. Of two games they are 
especially fond, and spend much of their time, like 
boys, as they are, in their performance. They are 
thus described by Laperouse: “The first, to which 
they give the name of takersia , consists in throw¬ 
ing and rolling a small hoop, of three inches in 
diameter, in a space of ten square fathoms, cleared 
of grass. Each of the two players holds a stick, of 
the size of a common cane, and five feet long. They 
endeavor to pass this stick into the hoop whilst it is 
in motion. If in this they succeed, they gain two 

* Southey: A Tale of Paraguay, canto iv, 7, 8. 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 223 


points ; and if the hoop, when it stops, simply rests 
upon their stick, they gain one by it. The game is 
in three points. This game is a violent exercise, 
because the hoop or the stick is always in motion. 

“The other game, named tousse , is more easy. 
They play it with four, — two on each side. Each 
in his turn hides a piece of wood in his hands, 
whilst his partner makes a thousand gestures to take 
off the attention of the adversaries. It is curious 
enough to a bystander to see them squatting down 
opposite to each other, keeping the most profound 
silence, watching the features and most minute cir¬ 
cumstances which may assist them in discovering 
the hand which conceals the piece of wood. They 
gain or lose a point, according to their guessing 
right or wrong, and those who gain have a right 
to hide in their turn. The game is five points, and 
the common stake is beads.’’ * 

These and other games of chance, some of them 
learnt from the Spaniards, as those at cards, are 
indulged in to a criminal excess; and frequently 
they lose, in this way, all they can call their own,— 
the clothes off their backs, the favors of their wives, 
and even their wives themselves. This picture is 
not softened by the addition of intoxication, — a 
vice not infrequent in the missions. 

From the total subjection in which the Indians 


Laperouse, vol. ii, p. 224. 


224 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


grow up and live, never being taught, or indeed 
allowed, to act, and hardly to think, for them¬ 
selves, it could scarcely be expected that they should 
attain any real knowledge of life or independence 
of conduct, even if they had been originally of 
a better stock. As it is, they are, in regard to 
the capacity and power of acting as members 
of a civilized community, on a lower scale than 
even the domesticated negroes of the West Indian 
colonies. They are reduced to the state of mere 
automatons, totally subjected to the direction and 
guidance of others. It has accordingly been inva¬ 
riably found that when any of them have been set 
at liberty, or placed in a position to act for them¬ 
selves, by leaving the missions or otherwise, they 
were utterly incapable of maintaining themselves; 
nay, even so stupid as to be incapable of exercising 
the office of a beggar, even when their very exist¬ 
ence seemed at stake. This seems hardly credible, 
yet it is a fact. 

The extreme state of debasement in which they 
are held not only has deprived them of their mental 
powers, but it has diminished their physical strength. 
They are not only stupid and pusillanimous, but 
puny and feeble. It is well known that savages are 
prone to be filthy in their habitations'; but, in their 
natural state, their living so much in the open air, 
their exertions in hunting and diversions, counteract 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 225 

this cause of disease; but at the missions, the 
Indians being still allowed to live in all their native 
filthiness, and their lives being now comparatively 
sedentary, with little corporeal and less mental 
exercise, they inevitably grow up debilitated in 
body as well as in mind. And how could it be 
otherwise ? 

All thoughts and occupations to commute, 

To change their air, their water, and their food, 

And those old habits suddenly uproot, 

Conformed to which the vital powers pursued 
Their functions, — such mutation is too rude 
For man’s fine frame unshaken to sustain.* 

Great numbers fall a prey to fevers, dysenteries, 
and other acute diseases. Langsdorff tells us that 
the missionaries informed him that upon the least 
illness they become wholly cast down, and lose all 
courage and care for recovery, refusing to attend to 
the diet or anything else recommended for them. 
Chronic diseases of various kinds are also prevalent, 
and add to the mortality. Syphilis prevails to a 
frightful extent, being indeed almost universal, not 
only among the Indians, but the creoles and Spaniards. 
It produces frightful ravages among the former, as 
they refuse all treatment of it, even when this is 
accessible to them, which is not always the case. 
These circumstances, with the natural tendency 
which all the Indian race have to diminish in 

* Southey: A Tale of Paraguay, canto iv, 28. 

15 Q 


226 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

numbers in a state of civilization, much more in a 
state of bondage, make the loss of life very great in 
the missions; and now that fresh recruits can be 
procured with difficulty, and, under recent events, 
probably not at all, and consequently the stock 
maintained only by the procreation of those already 
domesticated, it is probable that the whole race 
will gradually diminish, and, in a few generations 
more, will become entirely extinct. 

In concluding this sketch of the present state 
of the domesticated Indians of California, which 
unquestionably betrays a lamentable want of judg¬ 
ment and sound philosophy on the part of the men 
who have been the original founders, and are still 
the strenuous supporters, of the system under which 
these melancholy results have arisen, it would be 
extreme injustice not to place in the strongest 
contrast with their want of judgment the excellent 
motives and most benevolent and Christian - like 
intentions by which they have been always influenced. 
Considering the perfectly absolute and totally irre¬ 
sponsible power possessed by the missionaries over 
the Indians, their conduct must be allowed to have 
been invariably marked by a degree of benevolence 
and humanity and moderation probably unexampled 
in any other situation. To each missionary is 
allotted the entire and exclusive management of his 
mission. He is the absolute lord and master of all 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 227 

his Indians, and of the soil. He directs, without the 
least interference from others, all the operations 
and economy of the establishment, — agricultural, 
mechanical, manufacturing, and commercial, — and 
disposes, according to his will and pleasure, of 
the produce thereof. He allots his lands; orders 
his seed - time and harvest; distributes his cattle; 
encourages, chastises, and commands all the human 
beings under his charge,—and all this without being 
accountable to any power on earth; for, by a conve¬ 
nient fiction, this property belongs to the Indians, 
and the Indians are his slaves. There are, I fear, 
few examples to be found, where men enjoying 
such unlimited confidence and power have not 
abused them. And yet I have never heard that 
the missionaries of California have not acted with 
the most perfect fidelity, or that they ever betrayed 
their trust or exercised inhumanity, and the testi¬ 
mony of all travelers who have visited this country 
is uniformly to the same effect. On the contrary, 
there are recorded instances of the most extraordinary 
zeal, industry, and philanthropy in the conduct 
of those men. Since the country has been more 
opened, strangers have found at their missions the 
most generous and disinterested hospitality, protection, 
and kindness, and this without one solitary instance 
to the contrary, that I have ever heard of. 

I cannot avoid this opportunity of gratifying my 

Q 2 


228 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


feelings by noticing in a more especial manner one 
of those worthy men, as affording a recent example 
of what I have said of their order. 

Father Antonio Peyri, whose portrait appears 
in the front of this volume, took possession of the 
mission of San Luis Rey in the year 1798. He 
first built a small thatched cottage, and asked for 
a few cattle and Indians from the mission. After a 
constant residence of thirty-four years at this place, 
he left it stocked with nearly sixty thousand head 
of domesticated animals of all sorts, and yielding 
an annual produce of about thirteen thousand 
bushels of grain, while the population amounted 
to nearly three thousand Indians ! He left also a 
complete set of buildings, including a church, with 
inclosures, &c. Yet, after these thirty-four years of 
incessant labor, in which he expended the most 
valuable part of his life, the worthy Peyri left his 
mission with only what he judged to be sufficient 
means to enable him to join his convent in the 
city of Mexico, where he threw himself upon the 
charity of his order. The toil of managing such 
an establishment would be sufficient motive for a 
man of Father Peyri’s age to retire ; but the new 
order of things, which has introduced new men and 
new measures,— when the political power has been 
intrusted to heads not over-wise, and to hands not 
over-pure, when the theoretical doctrines of liberty and 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 229 


equality have been preached, while oppression and 
rapine have been practiced, — has doubtless accelerated 
his resignation. Whatever his motives may have 
been, his voluntary retirement in poverty, to spend 
his remaining days in pious exercises, must be 
applauded by the religious, and his noble disinter¬ 
estedness by all. At his mission, strangers of all 
countries and modes of faith, as well as his fellow- 
subjects, found always a hearty welcome and the 
utmost hospitality. Many of my countrymen and 
personal friends have related to me with enthusiasm 
the kindness and protection which they have received 
at his hands, — boons which are doubly valuable 
where places of entertainment do not exist, and 
where security is not very firmly established. 

I had the pleasure of seeing the Father Peyri on 
his way to Mexico, and although I had heard much 
of him before, yet his prepossessing appearance, his 
activity, and knowledge of the world, far above what 
could have been expected under the circumstances, 
gave me even a higher opinion of his worth than 
I before entertained. The excellent climate from 
which he had come, and his constant employment 
in the open air, made him look like a robust man 
of fifty years of age, although he was then sixty- 
seven ; and although his general character and 
manners were necessarily very different from what 
could be expected from a mere cloistered monk, yet 


230 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


in his gray Franciscan habit, which he always wore, 
with his jolly figure, bald head, and white locks, 
he looked the very beau ideal of a friar of the olden 
time. This worthy man, having now entered the 
cloisters of a convent, may be considered as dead 
to the world; but he will live long in the memory 
of the inhabitants of California, and of those numer¬ 
ous strangers who have been entertained at his 
hospitable board at San Luis Rey. 

The best and most unequivocal proof of the good 
conduct of these fathers is to be found in the 
unbounded affection and devotion invariably shown 
towards them by their Indian subjects. They venerate 
them not merely as friends and fathers, but with 
a degree of devotedness approaching to adoration. 
On the occasion of the removals that have taken place 
of late years from political causes, the distress of 
the Indians, in parting with their pastors, has been 
extreme. They have entreated to be allowed to 
follow them in their exile, with tears and lamen¬ 
tations, and with all the demonstrations of true 
sorrow and unbounded affection. Indeed, if ever 
there existed an instance of the perfect justice and 
propriety of the comparison of the priest and his 
disciples to a shepherd and his flock, it is in the 
case of which we are treating. These poor people 
may indeed be classed with the “silly sheep/’ more 
than with any other animal ; and I believe they 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 231 


would, in the words of the poet, even “ lick the 
hand,” though it were “raised to shed their blood,” 
— if this were the hand of the friar. 


Before concluding this sketch of missionary and 
of still Indian life, it may not be inappropriate 
or useless to consider, in a few words, the actual 
benefits conferred by the missionary systems of con¬ 
verting savage nations ; what is the relative value of 
those systems ; and whether they are the best that 
could be adopted. 

In the first place, what have the natives of Cali¬ 
fornia gained by the labors of the missionaries ? 
What service have those friars rendered to the 
Spanish nation, or to the world in general ? They 
have transformed the aborigines of a beautiful 
country from free savages into pusillanimous, super¬ 
stitious slaves ; they have taken from them the 
enjoyment of the natural productions of a delicious 
country, and ministered to them the bare neces¬ 
saries of life, and that on the condition of being 
bondsmen forever. Is there any one who can 
suppose that those men, who formerly wandered 
in their native wilds, “free as the wind on their 
mountains,” were not happier than the wretched 
herds of human animals which are now penned 
in the missionary folds ? It must be owned 



232 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


that the arts of agriculture and the use of the 
domestic animals are infinitely preferable to the 
scanty endowments of the hunter or barbarian state; 
but what share of the blessings resulting from these 
do the Indians enjoy ? They are made to assist in 
the toil which those improvements bring along with 
them ; but for this toil they have no reward ; for 
them there are no hopes ! Can any one, of a well- 
constituted mind, approve of this transformation, or 
reflect on it without sorrow ? 

Admitting, which I most readily do, that the 
natives in this part of America were and are very 
low in the scale of even savage happiness, surely we 
must allow that their actual condition as domesti¬ 
cated animals — I will not say as civilized men — is a 
degree even below this, when we look to the 7nind , 
the only source, seat, and criterion of enjoyment that 
deserves the name of human. True it is, as the poet 
whom we have already several times quoted, says of 
them,— 

Their inoffensive lives in pupilage, 

Perpetually, but peacefully, they led, 

From all temptation saved, and sure of daily bread. 

Still, I think, no one with the feelings of a man, 
capable and conscious of independence, will for a 
moment prefer this happiness of the stalled ox to the 
enjoyments of the free and robust Californian savages 
(checkered and embittered as these enjoyments 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 233 


were with many hardships and privations) when 
left to subsist on the spontaneous productions of 
their woods and fields; tracking the wild deer on 
their plains; bringing up fish from their waters; 
traversing, without control, their forests and their 
mountains; or basking, in dreamy inactivity, on the 
banks of their rivers, or on the shores of the ocean. 
Does it benefit the world more that twenty thousand 
Indians should live in aggregated huts on one side 
of the mountains, than in scattered tribes on the 
other ? Does it promote the cause of true religion 
that this number of beings should be repeating 
the offices of San Francisco, and singing hymns 
before the image of the Virgin Mary, in a church, 
more than that an equal number should offer their 
orisons under the canopy of heaven to the supreme 
being whom they suppose to be represented by the 
rising sun ? I think not; but it certainly interests 
humanity to know that one of the finest countries 
on earth has been doomed to be the abode of men 
reclaimed from one state of misery and barbarism, 
only to be plunged in another sort of barbarism and 
an aggravated state of misery, whereas, under other 
management, it might now have been the abode of 
millions of the human race, enjoying all the advantages 
and comforts of civilization and opulence, which 
some other states of America, not so favorably situ¬ 
ated, are so fully possessed of. The mind of man 


234 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


can hardly conceive a contrast more complete than 
that between the present state of California and 
the United States of America. On the one hand, 
we see an immense population formed into a com¬ 
munity governed by wise laws, and outvying the 
old countries of Europe not only in the arts of life 
and the various improvements of modern times, but 
even in numbers, sending out fleets over all the earth, 
and in constant and intimate connection with the 
whole world. On the other hand, we see a few 
helpless slaves engaged in superstitious exercises, 
immersed in the most complete ignorance, utterly 
unknowing and unknown to all beyond the precincts 
of their wretched huts! If North America had been 
first peopled under the influence of Spanish friars; 
if the red men of the north had been inclosed in 
folds, and taught to sing hallelujahs to the Virgin 
and repeat the offices of San Francisco; if they had 
been made nominal owners of the soil, to the exclu¬ 
sion of white men, and governed according to the 
Franciscan system,—what would have been the rank 
of that country at this day among the nations of 
the earth ? Nay, had even Mexico, Peru, and the 
other Spanish colonies, been subjected to this system, 
what figure would they have now made in the new 
world of republics ? 

All that we can allow is, that the missionaries 
are honest men ; that they pursue with assiduity 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 235 


what they believe to be their duty; that they labor 
in their vocation with zeal. But we entirely condemn 
their system, and lament its results. In their view 
of the subject, the conversion of those infidels to 
the Roman Catholic faith is the sole object of their 
labors. Attention to their temporal comforts or 
intellectual cultivation cannot be expected of teachers 
whose tenets are, that to abstain from all worldly 
comforts, and to despise all human learning, is their 
paramount duty. Consequently no instruction has 
ever been given to their neophytes, beyond learning 
to repeat, in Spanish or Latin, the offices of the 
Church. Those offices they, of course, repeat by 
rote, without at all knowing their meaning; but 
as it is sufficient in the Romish Church that its 
members perform the ceremonies, and repeat the 
offices in any language, whether understood or not, 
the jargon muttered by the Indians is perfectly ortho¬ 
dox, and entitles them to all the future happiness 
which this infallible Church has to bestow. 

What would those respectable and philanthropic 
persons think, who are so numerous in England, and 
so much interested in the propagation of civiliza¬ 
tion and religion, if all their labors and immense 
pecuniary sacrifices ended only in changing the 
condition of the wild but free inhabitants of a 
fine country into one of slavery and superstition ? 
Would they consider the religious, moral, or tern- 


236 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


poral advantages of pusillanimous slaves to be very 
superior to the original condition of the wild infidel 
hunters ? I know there are none of those benevo¬ 
lent persons who would be satisfied with such a 
transformation; but I fear some of their own enter¬ 
prises have not had much better success. It is true 
that their agents and missionaries have other aims 
than those of the Spanish Catholic friars. Their 
views are to instruct those they convert, and they are 
more fastidious in admitting their neophytes to the 
rites of baptism and other privileges of Christianity. 
This is, no doubt, as it should be, but it has the 
effect of diminishing greatly the number of prose¬ 
lytes, and experience has shown how infinitely 
more successful the Catholic missionaries have been 
than the Protestant. I do not mention this with 
a view to recommend the Catholic system, but I 
cannot help thinking that some modification of the 
rigid British missionary plan might be adopted 
which would be more successful. I even venture 
to think that men might be easier reclaimed 
from a savage, barbarous, or semi - barbarous state 
by other means than by that of religion. I do not 
mean that they should be left without religious 
instruction. Far from it. But I mean to say that 
the first attempt to civilize them might be better 
done by teaching them, by degrees, the arts and 
comforts of a more advanced state of society by 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 237 


laymen. How is it to be supposed that a savage 
could, on the very first contact with a stranger, be 
made to comprehend a series of mysteries, of which 
he never before dreamed, and which are in exact 
contradiction to all the knowledge or prejudices of 
his bygone life, — to everything which he had hitherto 
considered sacred and venerable, and which had 
been handed down to him, in the ancestral legends, 
with the character of incontrovertible truths ? — 
those new mysteries, too, being such that reason 
alone cannot enable the most powerful mind, even 
of those born under the Christian dispensation, 
to comprehend. It is impossible that savages 
should be made, at once, saints or philosophers; 
but I think a system of progressive instruction, by 
enlightened and prudent teachers, whose duty should 
be, not to instill literary or religious knowledge 
so much as the common arts of life, might be 
successful in bringing a people, living in a state of 
barbarism and ignorance, to adopt great improvements 
in the course of time, and finally accomplish their 
complete civilization. I do not despair that the 
time will come when, instead of illiterate fanatics 
with cargoes of Bibles and religious tracts only, 
prudent men will be sent among the heathens, 
carrying with them, Bibles and tracts certainly, 
but also agricultural and manufacturing implements, 
useful mechanical inventions, furniture, and clothing, 


238 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


with instructions to reclaim the savage, not merely 
by the terrors of future punishments, but likewise 
by the fascination of a more comfortable worldly 
existence. 

I much question if ever the task should be under¬ 
taken of attempting to instruct the adult savages 
in any sort of literary knowledge ; and I have some 
doubts of the possibility of instilling into their 
minds the rudiments even of the Christian religion ; 
but, under a proper system, no difficulty need be 
apprehended of the children imbibing as much 
literary instruction as should be thought necessary, 
and of their learning thoroughly all the tenets of 
Christianity. I should hope, however, it would in 
all cases become consistent with the promotion of 
religious instruction to teach it in a milder form than 
is usually done by the Protestant missionaries abroad. 
Can it be supposed that a human being, arrived 
at the use of reason, will hear for the first time, 
without the most appalling horror, the announce¬ 
ment of a future abode of penal fire, into which he 
must be cast forever if he do not renounce all his 
former customs and religion, and conform to certain 
conditions which must at first sight appear to him 
impossible ? In this first encounter, is it to be won¬ 
dered at that the savage imbibes an unconquerable 
aversion to the new creed, or is inspired with a dis¬ 
belief of its truth, never afterwards to be overcome ? 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 239 


Those missionaries, however well meaning they 
may be, take generally an erroneous view of the 
means they ought to adopt for the accomplishment 
of the end they are pursuing. It also happens but 
too often that those men, in addition to their pro¬ 
fession of religious teachers, assume the character 
of legislators and governors, for which offices none 
can generally be more unfit; and when they are so 
situated that they can, without control, exercise such 
powers, the greatest disorder and mischief have 
ensued. Instead of making good Christians or a 
moral and industrious people of the natives, they 
have merely broken up all their old customs and 
rude rules of morality and order, and converted 
them into a lawless and profligate rabble. This, 
according to the report of some of the most respect¬ 
able voyagers, is the case in many, at least, of the 
islands in the South Sea, where the missionaries 
have had the most unlimited opportunity of domi¬ 
neering. 

Is there, then, no possibility of civilizing mankind 
but by divines ? Would an enlightened layman have 
no influence over savage people ? Would the an¬ 
nouncement of the art of agriculture, of mechanical 
inventions, of the use of clothing, of good houses 
and furniture, of the comforts enjoyed by other 
men, have no charms for people destitute of all 
these things ? Would the advantages of improved 


240 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


implements and improved accommodation, good 
clothes and good food, have no attractions for 
them ? Would the plain and easily understood 
explanation of all these advantages, told by a man 
of this world, be less attended to than the rhapso¬ 
dies of an enthusiast, whose benefits are all in 
prospect, and the most comprehensible of whose 
doctrines announces an eternity of horrors in another 
life ? 

When religious instruction becomes necessary 
and practicable, certainly let it be taught; but let 
it be taught as in every civilized country, under 
the control of the civil power. Experience teaches 
us that missionaries — such missionaries as have 
heretofore been sent to foreign countries, among 
savage tribes — are not fit to be intrusted with civil 
power. They have never yet succeeded in governing 
well, — not even an island of Madripores inhabited 
by a few families. 

The foregoing observations apply to religious 
missionaries, such as they are at present, or, at 
least, such as they were formerly; and I repeat, that 
laymen, capable of merely instructing savages in 
things concerning their temporal weal and com¬ 
fort, would be infinitely more serviceable to them, 
and to the cause of humanity and Christianity, as 
primary teachers, than such men can possibly be. 
I am, however, far from thinking that religious 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 241 


missionaries might not be so educated as to combine 
all the advantages to be found in lay teachers, with 
the capacity and authority to instruct in religion 
also. In regard to such instructors, I would only 
say that they should be careful, in combining 
the spiritual with the temporal information, not 
to give too prominent a position to the former, 
but rather to insinuate than enforce their severer 
precepts, trusting, in the first instance, to the means 
already mentioned as more suited to the capacities 
and ignorance of their pupils. I have been so 
long absent from England, that I know not whether 
there is any special education for those who are 
now sent abroad as missionaries ; but I am sure 
there will be no success in the undertaking until 
they are not only instructed in the arts of life most 
calculated to attract and benefit the savage, but 
taught also (to pious men the severer lesson of the 
two) to let the earthly food of temporal knowledge 
take the precedence, and even for a time to super¬ 
sede the heavenly manna which it is their more 
especial duty to administer. 

Although the system of the Catholic missionaries 
may not much improve the moral or physical state 
of their converts, yet their success in gaining prose¬ 
lytes must ever be superior to that of the Protestant, 
particularly the English Methodist Protestant. Noth¬ 
ing can be better adapted to captivate the simple 
16 R 


242 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


savage than the gorgeous ceremonies of the Catholic 
service ; nor can there be agents more fitting than 
the persevering and well-disciplined friar, whose 
whole life and studies have been directed to this 
end, whose angry passions no injury can rouse, or 
whose humility and patience no insult or obstacle 
can overcome. With him our missionary can bear 
no comparison, any more than can the attractions 
of their respective forms of worship. To a savage, 
who must be chiefly taught through the medium of 
his senses, the Catholic service is most fascinating. 
The whole ceremony of the mass is performed by 
a sort of dumb show, accompanied with music and 
glittering ornaments, which may be said to be just 
as well understood by a savage of California as by 
an hidalgo of Spain, and which will soon become to 
the one as it is to the other, a duty or a show which 
he feels himself uneasy at missing. He will also 
soon be made to believe that on such easy terms 
as attending punctually on this pleasing exhibition 
he will be entitled to everlasting happiness. By 
the tenets of the Catholic Church, this title is not 
doubtful, but positive; for its dogmas teach that 
the fiat of the priest in this world is certainly con¬ 
firmed in heaven, if the exercises prescribed are 
performed. Not so the doctrine of Protestantism, 
even when administered by the calm and rational 
minister of an established church ; for even then a 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 243 


doubt hangs over the mincl of the most virtuous; 
but when the doctrine of a doubtful salvation and 
an eternity of punishment is inculcated by a fanatical 
Methodist, who not infrequently may be taken from 
the anvil to hammer divinity into the heads of the 
heathen, then a truly sledge-hammer method of 
conversion is the result, and the astonished convert 
cannot but be confounded with horror! This gloomy 
doctrine is increased by the nudity and somber 
style of their places of worship ; sometimes, also, 
by the austere and forbidding physiognomy of the 
preacher, whom the frightened hearer often regards 
as directing his eyes and his denunciations to him 
individually. Under such circumstances, there are 
not wanting examples of the scared savage fairly 
taking to his heels, and fleeing from the preacher 
and his doctrines forever. 

When the Protestant missionaries have absolute 
dominion, as in some of the islands, and among 
insulated tribes, they put down all the ancient cus¬ 
toms and diversions, however innocent, not solely 
by persuasion, but by coercion, and in this way their 
gloomy system is carried to its extreme. This is 
another of the great causes of their inferiority to 
Catholic missionaries in gaining the good will of 
savages. The prohibition of sports and diversions 
to men bred in a savage state, and comparatively 
idle, will be always intolerable. They have much 


244 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


time which cannot be otherwise filled up; and so 
strongly will their ancient customs have fixed them¬ 
selves in their very constitutions, that it will be 
impossible for them to forego altogether their use; 
and when it is attempted to deprive them thereof, 
the loss of their friendship and confidence will 
inevitably be the consequence. Of the diversions 
amongst savages, music and dancing form the chief 
part; and as both these exercises are contrary to 
the tenets of some of the Protestant missionaries, 
they must be absolutely prohibited ; so that on the 
first encounter the missionary and his convert are 
at issue. The poor savage finds himself debarred 
from all his pleasures, and deprived of what he 
thought a recompense for his toil and his privations. 
The white man comes and takes away the few 
comforts he hitherto enjoyed. And what does he 
give him in return ? Why, he promises him that 
if he lays aside the song and the dance, foregoes all 
pleasure and mirth, puts on a sour instead of a 
laughing countenance, attends to the rhapsody of the 
preacher, — then he promises that he may perhaps 
escape being damned forever, and avoid passing his 
eternity amid fire and brimstone prepared for him 
in the world to come. This is no encouraging out¬ 
set for one who was taught to think that he could 
dance and sing till the end of his mortal days, 
and then join his departed friends in the land of 


MISSIONARY ESTABLISHMENTS 245 


spirits beyond the western wave, to spend his eternity 
in bliss. It is no wonder if such expounders of 
the Scripture appear to the untutored savage more 
like the agents of an evil spirit, sent on earth to 
terrify mankind, than the ministers of a benevolent 
God, who “willeth not the death of a sinner”; 
more like the sowers of the seeds of evil, than the 
cultivators of the vineyard of the Lord of mercy! 
There can hardly be a greater contrast than between 
a jolly, laughing friar, cajoling his converts into 
his fold by indulging their innocent foibles and pro¬ 
pensities, and the spare, sour, ascetic Methodist, 
who takes from his followers all their pastimes and 
pleasures; but it must be admitted that the contrast 
in the numerical results of their conversions is no 
less striking. 


CHAPTER VI 

STATE OF AGRICULTURE IN UPPER CALIFORNIA. — ITS 
PRODUCE IN GRAIN AND LIVE-STOCK 

The lands of California, as we have seen, are almost 
exclusively in the hands of the missionaries, and 
consequently its agricultural operations are chiefly 
carried on by them. This art or science is well 
known not to be, even now, in a very advanced 
state in Spain, and could not possibly have been well 
understood, even in its then state, by the monks 
who first settled in California in the last century. 
The actual state of agriculture in this country — 
which has not in any degree improved since its 
first introduction — may, consequently, easily be 
imagined to be most rude and backward. It is 
not thought necessary by those primitive farmers 
to study the use of fallows or green crops ; to 
adopt the six or seven course shift , or any other 
shift whatever ; nor to study the alternation of 
white and leguminous grains, or any such modes 
of improved husbandry. These are refinements they 

246 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 247 

never heard or dreamed of, and it would be as 
reasonable to expect that they should adopt such 
novelties as that they would the doctrines of 
Luther or Calvin. Their only plan of renovating the 
fertility of an exhausted soil is to let it rest from 
culture, and to abandon it to its native weeds until 
it may again be thought capable of bearing crops 
of grain. From the superabundance of land in the 
country, a second cultivation of exhausted ground 
is not resorted to for many years, and perhaps not 
at all. 

The grains chiefly cultivated are maize or Indian 
corn, wheat, barley, and a kind of small bean 
called frijol. This bean is in universal use all over 
Spanish America, and is a most pleasant food. 
They are cooked when in a ripe state, fried with 
lard, and much esteemed by all ranks of people. 

Maize is the staple bread-corn, and is cultivated 
in rows or drills. The cultivation of this grain 
is better managed than that of the others, and is 
certainly superior to what might be expected from 
such rude farmers, and with such implements of 
husbandry as they possess. The plow used not only 
in California, but in all other parts of America 
inhabited by the Spanish race, is of great antiquity, 
and is also, I believe, still used in Old Spain. It is 
composed of two principal pieces. The one which 
we shall call the main piece is formed out of a 


248 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


crooked branch of timber, cut from the tree, of such 
a natural shape as to form this main piece, which 
constitutes, of itself, the sole and handle or stilt. It 
has only one handle, and no mold-board or other 
contrivance for turning over the furrow, and is there¬ 
fore only capable of making a simple rut equal on 
both sides. A share is fitted to the point of the sole, 
but without any feather, and is the only iron in the 
whole construction of the plow. The other piece 
is the beam, which is of great length, so as to reach 
the yoke of the oxen by which the plow is drawn. 
This beam is also formed of a natural piece of wood, 
cut from a tree, of the necessary dimensions, and 
has no dressing, except the taking off the bark. It 
is inserted into the upper part of the main piece, 
and connected with it by a small upright piece 
of wood, on which it slides, and is fixed by two 
wedges. By withdrawing those wedges the beam 
is elevated or lowered, and by this means the plow is 
regulated as to depth of furrow, or what plowmen 
call giving more or less earth. 



The long beam passes between the two oxen like 
the pole of a carriage or ox-wain, and no chain is 





STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


249 


required for drawing the plow. A pin is put through 
the point of the beam which passes before the 
yoke, and is fixed there by thongs of rawhide. 
The plowman goes at one side of the plow, hold¬ 
ing the handle or stilt with his right hand, and 
managing the goad with his left. There are never 
more than two oxen used in these plows, and no 
driver is required, the plowman managing the plow 
and directing the oxen himself. The manner of 
yoking the oxen is not as is done in the north 
of Europe, by putting the yoke on the shoulders, 
and fixing it by a wooden collar or bow round the 
neck. The yoke is placed on the top of the head, 
close behind the horns, tied firmly to their roots 
and to the forehead by thongs, so that, instead of 
drawing by the shoulders, they draw by the roots 
of the horns and forehead. When oxen are so 
bound up, they have no freedom to move their 
heads. They go with their noses turned up, and 
seem to be under great pain. 

I know not if this was the custom of the ancients; 
but I am persuaded that no guide to the ancient 
customs of Europe can be sought for, in the present 
day, so safely as amongst the Spaniards, who seem 
in few respects to differ from their ancestors of the 
earliest ages. On my asking a native of Spain 
what could be the motive for making an ox to 
draw by the head and a horse by the shoulders, he 


250 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


replied, that wise men had found that particular 
animals had their strength lodged in particular parts 
of their body, and it was found that the strength 
of the ox lay in its horns. I then stated to him, 
that almost all other nations thought otherwise, and 
yoke their oxen by the shoulders ; therefore the 
question was, whether the Spaniards or the other 
nations were in the right. To this he immediately 
replied in a tone of indignation, “ What ! Can you 
suppose that Spain, which has always been known 
as the mother of the sciences, can be mistaken on 
that point ? ” Against this, of course, no further 
argument could be offered; and, in the Americas, 
oxen will continue to draw by the horns, perhaps for 
ages to come, as taught by their scientific mother 
of Spain. Their carts are drawn by oxen yoked in 
the same manner, and in this case they have to 
bear the weight of the load on the top of their 
heads, which is certainly the most disadvantageous 
mechanical point of the whole body. This renders 
their sufferings more severe than in the plow, 
and it is truly distressing to see the poor animals 
writhing under a load which, on their backs or 
shoulders, they could easily support. The form of 
the ox-cart is as rude as that of the plow. It is 
composed of a bottom frame of a most clumsy 
construction, on which is raised a body of a few bars 
stuck upright, of a great height, and connected at 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


251 


the top with other slight bars. This cart is usually 
without lining, but when used for carrying maize, 
it is lined with canes tied to the upright bars. 
The pole is of very large dimensions, and long 
enough to be fastened to the yoke in the same 
manner as the beam of the plow. This also adds 
greatly to the distress of the poor oxen, because, 
the pole being tied fast to the yoke, which rests 
on their heads, they feel every jerk and twist of 
the cart in the most sensible manner; and when the 
road is full of stones, sloughs, and all manner of 
obstructions, as it generally is in America, it appears 
as if the animal’s head would every moment be 
twisted off ! 

The wheels of the Californian ox-cart, as well as 
those of the other Spanish Americas, are of a most 
singular construction. They have no spokes, and 
are composed of only three pieces of timber. The 
middle piece is hewn out of a huge tree, of a sufficient 
size to form the nave and middle of the wheel all 
in one. This middle piece is made of a length 
equal to the diameter of the wheel, and rounded 
at the two ends to arcs of the circumference. The 
other two pieces are made of timber naturally bent, 
and joined to the sides of the middle piece by keys 
or oblong pieces of wood, grooved into the ends of 
the pieces which form the wheel. The whole is 
then made circular, and resembles the wheels of the 


252 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


barrows used in the north of Scotland for carrying 
peat or turf out of the mosses or bogs. There 
does not enter into the construction of this cart a 
particle of iron, not even a nail, for the axle is 
entirely of wood, and the linch-pin of the same 
material, as well as the pins that fix the cart to the 
axle. 

From the construction of the plow, as already 
described, it will be perceived that, there being no 
mold-board or feathered share, the furrow cannot 
be cut up and turned over, as with an English plow, 
a rut only being made ; consequently the soil 
can only be broken by successively crossing and 
recrossing the field many times ; and it is evident 
that, however often crossed by a machine of this 
kind, the root-weeds of any tenacity can never be 
cut, so that this mode of plowing must always 
be very imperfect; and although four or five crossings 
are often given, yet the soil is not sufficiently broken 
or the weeds eradicated. 

The necessity of giving so many crossings is a 
great waste of labor ; and as the plowing is 
deferred till the commencement of the rains, and 
very near the time of sowing, an immense number 
of plows must be employed. It is no uncommon 
thing to see, on the large maize estates, in some 
parts of Mexico, upwards of one hundred plows 
at work together ! With these plows it is not 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


253 


necessary to divide the field into ridges or brakes. 
As they are equal on both sides, they have only 
to begin at one side of the field and follow one 
another up and down, as many as can be employed 
together without interfering in turning round at 
the end, which they do in succession, like ships 
tacking in a line of battle, and so proceed down 
the same side as they came up. 

A harrow is totally unknown ; and where wheat 
or barley is sown, a bush is generally used to cover 
in the seed, but in some places, instead of this, a 
long, heavy log of wood is drawn over the field, 
something on the plan of a roller, but dragging, 
without turning round, so as to carry a portion of 
the soil over the seed. 

In the cultivation of maize, when the field is 
sufficiently plowed or crossed, a rut or furrow is 
made by the plow, at the distance intended for the 
drills, which is generally five or six feet. In this 
rut the seed is deposited by hand, the laborers 
carrying it in small baskets, out of which they take 
a handful, and drop from three to five grains at once, 
which they slightly cover with their foot from the 
loose earth on the side of the rut, and so proceed, 
depositing a like number of seeds at the distance 
of about three feet. In this state the seed is left 
to spring up to a moderate height, and then the 
plows are again put to turn a furrow on each 


254 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

side of the rut, towards the young plants, thus 
forming a drill. When the maize grows up to a 
considerable height, it is commonly cleaned by hand, 
by pulling up the weeds; the middle, between the 
drills, is again turned up by the plow passing up 
and down, and the labor is then finished. 

The sowing of maize, as well as of other grains, 
in Upper California, commences in November, or as 
near the commencement of the rains as possible, 
and the harvest is in the months of July and 
August. 

The process of harvesting maize is as follows. 
The laborer carries with him a large and very deep 
basket of wickerwork, with which he proceeds 
along the drills, and fills it with the heads of maize. 
When full, he carries it on his back to the end of 
the field, where an ox-cart is stationed, and into 
which he empties his basket. When the cart is full, 
it proceeds to the place of deposit. In this way 
the stalks are all left; and when all their heads are 
gathered, the cattle are then turned into the field, 
and eat up the leaves, and such parts of the stalks as 
are eatable. These are found to be very nutritious, 
and the cattle get fat at this season, more than on 
the best grass pastures. 

The next operation is to separate the maize from 
the head or husk. This is done by rubbing the full 
head against a few empty husks bound together, 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


255 


and is a very tedious operation. Maize, in warm 
countries, is very liable to spoil, and to be infested 
by an insect called, in Spanish, gorgojo; and as it 
is found that maize keeps longer in the husk, it is 
sometimes left so till it is required for use; but 
although it may be kept somewhat longer in this 
state than when separated, yet it is also soon subject 
to the attack of this insect. On the coast of the 
tropical country of Mexico, it is difficult to keep 
maize above six or eight months, but in California 
it can be kept for a much longer time. Perhaps, 
by kiln-drying and other methods, maize might 
be preserved, even in tropical climates, for a great 
length of time ; but I have seen no attempt at any 
plan of this kind, although it would be, if successful, 
attended with immense benefit to the growers of 
this grain in the populous parts of Mexico, particu¬ 
larly on the coast, where the prices vary so much 
in different years, and even at different seasons of 
the same year. 

The produce of maize, in proportion to the seed, 
is perhaps more than that of any other grain what¬ 
ever; but this, doubtless, chiefly arises from its being 
always planted in drills, and I am not certain if wheat 
and other grains might not give equal returns if 
planted or dibbled in the same way. The return from 
maize in good land is often as high as a hundred 
and fifty fold, and even higher; and if it is much 


256 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


under a hundred, it is thought to be an inferior crop. 
The calculation, however, of the produce of grain by 
returns from the seed is founded on an erroneous 
principle; but in South America it is always so cal¬ 
culated, as they have no fixed land-measure, so that 
it is difficult to ascertain what any certain quantity of 
land actually produces. This has led to very mistaken 
notions respecting the fertility of those countries. 
When I first arrived in Chile, I was told that wheat 
seldom or never yielded less than fifty returns, and 
that it sometimes gave one hundred and fifty, 
but could not reconcile this with the appearance 
of the crops I saw in the fields, which certainly 
never surpassed the appearance of a good crop in 
England. I could only suppose that it was to be 
accounted for by thin sowing, which I afterwards 
found to be the fact. Perhaps, on measuring an 
acre of land in any part of the world, the produce 
in any kind of grain will not greatly exceed that 
of the best crops of wheat produced in the north of 
Europe. I measured a small piece of ground in 
Mexico, sown with barley, and the seed used was 
about the third part of what is ordinarily used in 
England, but I had not an opportunity of ascertaining 
its produce. It must have produced three times 
as much from the seed as the ordinary returns in 
England to have given an equal quantity per acre 
as in that country. One thing, however, may be 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


257 


allowed, which is, that grain raised by irrigation in 
hot countries must produce more than by any other 
mode of cultivation; and as much of the wheat 
in South America is cultivated in that way, the 
produce, in such circumstances, may be more than 
in Europe; but I have never seen, even by irrigation, 
anything which could promise a very superior return 
per acre to a heavy crop in England. 

Wheat is sown “in broadcast,” on land prepared 
as for maize. In the south of California, owing to 
the length of the dry season, it is cultivated by 
irrigation ; but in the north, and particularly round 
the Bay of San Francisco, as formerly stated, the 
rains and dews are sufficient, and irrigation is not 
necessary. From the lands being new, and natu¬ 
rally fertile, the produce of wheat ought to be very 
great, and from the excellence of the climate the 
quality of the grain should be very fine. Samples of 
wheat from the Cape of Good Hope were exhibited 
many years ago in London as a curiosity for their 
superior fineness, and sold at an exorbitant price 
for seed. California corresponds in situation to the 
Cape of Good Hope, and if the culture and quality 
of the seed were attended to, wheat of equal 
fineness must be produced. At present, from the 
unskillfulness of the culture, and the inattention 
to procure good seed, neither the quantity nor 
quality is equal to what they ought to be. The 

17 S 


258 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


cultivation of wheat is at present but very limited, 
although, from the excellence of the soil and climate, 
and the abundance of land fit for the production of 
this grain, Upper California ought to be, and one 
day must be, the granary of all South America. 

Barley is cultivated, but in small quantities, no use 
being made of it, except to feed horses. They make 
no malt liquor or spirits from this grain. The kind 
cultivated both in California and Mexico is what is 
called “bigg” in Scotland, being the old variety with 
six rows. It produces a very small grain. What will 
my Northern friends think when they are informed 
that oats are not known in any part of the Spanish 
Americas ! They not only do not raise this species 
of grain for their own use, but not even for the use of 
their horses. All kinds of grain in California are 
thrashed out at once, without stacking or housing 
any part of it with the straw. 

In the neighborhood of the mines and large towns 
in Mexico, wheat and barley straw is used as fodder 
for the working horses and mules, and from its 
dry and brittle state in those warm countries, 
it is, in the act of thrashing, reduced to a state 
which more resembles chaff than straw. It is, in 
fact, like straw cut by machinery in England, and 
is carried to market on mules’ backs, inclosed in 
large net bags, one on each side. Hundreds of 
mules are to be seen daily entering Guanajuato, and 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


259 


other large mining towns, with these immense globes 
of cut straw at their sides, more resembling balloons 
than anything else. In California, however, as the 
pastures are so abundant, and few mules or horses 
worked, little use is made of the straw. 

The following table gives the whole produce, in 
grain, of Upper California, in the year 1831, calculated 
according to the localities, and in fanegas. 


GRAIN 


Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, 
and Towns 

Wheat 

Maize, or 

Indian Corn 

Frijoles, or 

Small Beans 

Barley 

Beans, Garban- 
zos, and Pease 

Total Fanegas 

Jurisdiction of San Francisco 







Presidio of San Francisco . . . 

233 

70 

40 



343 

Town of San Jose de Guadalupe . . 

1,657 

1,560 

191 



3,408 

Mission of S. Francisco Solano . . 

1,171 

200 

24 

241 

24 

1,660 

Id. • of S. Rafael Arcangel. . . 

774 

130 

15 

388 

20 

1,327 

Id. of S. Francisco de Asis . . 

670 

15 

9 

340 

58 

1,092 

Id. of Sta. Clara de Asis . . . 

2,400 

60 

25 


200 

2,685 

Id. of S. Jose. 

4,000 

1,000 

123 

1,100 

418 

6,641 

Id. of Sta. Cruz. 

160 

300 

10 

386 

20 

876 

Jurisdiction of Monterey 







Presidio of Monterey. 

490 

332 

131 



953 

Village of Branciforte. 

103 

160 

80 



343 

Mission of S. Juan Bautista .... 

840 

170 

40 

255 

6 

1,311 

Id. of S. Carlos Borromeo . . 

200 



215 

62 

477 

Id. of Na. Sa. de la Soledad . . 

538 

50 


243 

62 

893 

Id. of S. Antonio de Padua . . 

955 

115 

40 

568 

23 

1,701 

Id. of S. Miguel Arcangel . . 

599 

36 

9 

57 

33 

734 

Id. of S. Luis Obispo de Tolosa 

350 

60 

20 

20 


450 


S 2 



















260 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, 
and Towns 

Wheat 

Maize, or 

Indian Corn 

Frijoles, or 

Small Beans 

Barley 

Beans, Garban¬ 

zos, and Pease 

Total Fanegas 

Jurisdiction of Santa Barbara 







Presidio of Santa Barbara . . . 


300 

90 



390 

Mission of La Purisima Concepcion. 

700 

100 

20 

56 

17 

893 

Id. of Sta. Ines. 

800 

400 

20 



1,220 

Id. of Sta. Barbara. 

730 

90 

50 

336 

30 

1,236 

Id. of S. Buenaventura .... 

700 

200 

160 

800 


1,860 

Id. of S. Fernando Rey de Espana 

200 

250 

40 


65 

555 

Town of La Reina de los Angeles . 

138 

1,758 

179 



2,075 

Jurisdiction of San Diego 







Presidio of San Diego. 

140 

125 

5 



270 

Mission of S. Gabriel Arcangel . . 

1,400 

400 

13 


25 

1,838 

Id. of S. Juan Capistrano . . . 

450 

625 

30 


5 

1,110 

Id. of S. Luis Rey de Francia . 

1,800 

2,000 

200 

1,200 

15 

5,215 

Id. of S. Diego de Alcala. . . 

2,946 

420 

80 

1,200 


4,646 

Total fanegas. 

25,144 

10,926 

1,644 

7,405 

1,083 

46,202 


Taking the fanega at ZV 2 English bushels, the 
harvest in 1831 will be as follows: — 


Quarters 

Wheat. 7,85 7Y 2 

Maize.3,414^ 

Frijoles. 514 

Barley ..2,314 

Beans, garbanzos, and pease. 338 


Total quarters.14,438 


Now, reckoning the following as the average price of 
grain in California at the present time, viz., wheat 
and barley 2 dollars the fanega, or £ 1 5s. the 

English quarter, and maize at 1 V 2 dollars, or ^1 per 


























STATE OF AGRICULTURE 261 
quarter, the following will be the value of the produce, 


in English money. 

£ s. d. 

Wheat. 9,822 17 6 

Maize. 4,268 0 0 

Barley.2,314 0 0 

Pease and beans, reckoned as barley . . . 852 0 0 

Total.^17,256 17 6 


The quantity of wheat produced, it will be per¬ 
ceived, is much greater than any of the other sorts 
of grain, which is the reverse of what takes place 
in the other Mexican states, wheat bearing a small 
proportion to maize, which latter is the staple bread- 
corn. 

The mills for grinding flour in Upper California 
are but few, and of the most primitive construction; 
but none better are to be found in the other parts 
of Spanish America, not even in Chile, where wheat 
abounds. These mills consist of an upright axle, 
to the lower end of which is fixed a horizontal 
water-wheel placed under the building, and to the 
upper end the millstone ; and as there is no inter¬ 
mediate machinery to increase the velocity, it is 
evident that the millstone can make only the same 
number of revolutions as the water-wheel. This 
makes it necessary that the wheel should be of 
very small diameter, otherwise no power of water 
thrown upon it could make it go at a rate suffi¬ 
cient to give the millstone the requisite velocity. 
It is therefore made of very small dimensions, and 







262 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


constructed in the following manner. A set of what 
are called cucharas (spoons) are stuck into the 
periphery of the wheel, which serve in place of 
float-boards. They are made of pieces of timber, 
in something of the shape of spoons, the handles 
being inserted into mortices on the edge of the wheel, 
and, the howls of the spoons made to receive the 
water, which spouts on them laterally, and forces 
round the small wheel with nearly the whole velocity 
of the water which impinges upon it. I never 
knew of the existence of a mill of this construction 
till I saw one in South America, but I since find that 
Sir Walter Scott, in his Pirate, describes a similar 
one as having been in use in the Shetland Islands. 
This mill is erected at very small expense, but it is 
no small boast for a mission in California to have 
one of them, and I believe there are only three in 
all the country. 

That most useful plant, the potato, thrives well in 
California, but the people in this, as in every other 
Spanish country, do not make this root a staple 
article of subsistence, nor is it used as a substitute 
for bread. When potatoes are brought to the table 
in Spanish countries, they are made up into a dish 
to be eaten alone. They are, however, now much 
more cultivated than before the introduction of 
strangers, who use them as in Europe, and who 
will, in time, show the inhabitants their value. 

Of green vegetables for the table, the peasantry, 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


263 


and all those who live in the country, make little 
or no use. It is a remarkable fact that in all parts 
of Spanish America no such things are to be seen in 
the gardens of the peasants, nor even in those of the 
proprietors of estates, as cabbages, or greens of any 
kind. Only in the vicinity of large towns are to 
be found cabbage-gardens. In California, it may be 
said that, before the admission of foreign settlers, 
neither the potato nor green vegetables were 
cultivated as articles of food. 

No such thing as the cultivation of turnips in 
the large way, or for the food of cattle, is at all 
known. They have a small white kind for the table, 
but its flavor is insipid, and, as well as other green 
vegetables, is but little used. 

The cultivation of hemp was formerly carried on 
to some considerable extent, and furnished a supply 
of this article to the arsenal of San Bias. Its produce 
was abundant, and of very excellent quality. Its 
cultivation, however, was discontinued soon after 
the withdrawing of the Spanish squadron from San 
Bias, and has not again been renewed ; but in 
the hands of industrious settlers this undoubtedly 
would be a source of great profit. 

Flax has also been tried, and proves congenial to 
the soil and climate; but from the total want of 
machinery for dressing it, and industry to manufac¬ 
ture it, nothing has been done, except merely by 
way of trial. 


264 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


The vine thrives in California in an extraordinary 
degree. It is cultivated already to a very consider¬ 
able degree, and might be extended almost without 
limits. Wine is now made, of tolerably good quality, 
and some even very excellent. Nothing is wanting 
but intelligent persons to make wine of superior 
quality, and which would find a ready market in 
Mexico and the neighboring countries, where the 
vine does not grow. 

The quantity of wine and brandy consumed in 
those countries is immense, all of which could be 
supplied from California at a price infinitely less 
than what is now paid for that brought from 
Europe. Raisins, also, the produce of the vine, are 
articles of considerable consumption, so that this 
branch of industry would be a source of great 
riches to an enterprising and industrious people, 
but at present, instead of exporting either wine 
or brandy, they have to purchase them for their 
own use. 

The olive is also produced in very great perfec¬ 
tion, and when well prepared, is not inferior to 
that of France, and the oil would be equally good 
if expressed and preserved with care. These are 
articles of great consumption among a Spanish 
population, and would be of much importance as 
exports to the neighboring republics. 

Pasturage, however, is the principal object pursued 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


265 


in California, as well as in all the Spanish settle¬ 
ments of America. The immense tracts of country 
possessed by them, in proportion to the population, 
added to the indolent and unenterprising habits 
of this race of men, render the pastoral state the 
most congenial to their situation and disposition. 
Few men and little labor are required to take 
care of herds of cattle, which naturally increase 
rapidly in the vast plains abounding with rich 
pastures, whereas, to raise grain, great labor and 
a numerous population are required. The pastures 
of Upper California are most abundant, and the 
domestic animals have increased amazingly. 

The following table gives the total number of 
cattle, of all descriptions, in the year 1831 . 


DOMESTIC CATTLE 


Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, 
and Towns 

Black 

Cattle 

Horses 

Mules 

| Asses 

Sheep 

Goats 

Swine 

Jurisdiction of San Francisco 








Presidio of San Francisco . . . 

5,610 

470 

40 





Town of San Jose de Guadalupe . . 

4,443 

2,386 

134 





Mission of S. Francisco Solano . . 

2,500 

725 

4 


5,000 


50 

Id. of S. Rafael Arcangel. . . 

1,200 

450 

1 


2,000 


17 

Id. of S. Francisco de Asis . . 

4,200 

1,239 

18 


3,000 



Id. of Sta. Clara de Asis . . . 

9,000 

780 

38 


7,000 



Id. of S. Jose. 

12,000 

1,300 

40 


13,000 


40 

Id. of Sta. Cruz. 

3,500 

940 

82 


5,403 



Jurisdiction of Monterey 








Presidio of Monterey. 

5,641 

3,310 

70 





Village of Branciforte. 

1,000 

1,000 

3 























266 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Names of the Jurisdictions, Missions, 
and Towns 

Black 

Cattle 

Horses 

Mules 

Asses 

Sheep 

Goats 

Swine 

Mission of S. Juan Bautista .... 

7,070 

401 

6 

1 

7,017 


17 

Id. of S. Carlos Borromeo . . 

2,050 

470 

8 


4,400 

55 


Id. of Na. Sa. de la Soledad . . 

6,599 

1,070 

50 

1 

6,358 



Id. of S. Antonio de Padua . . 

5,000 

1,060 

80 

2 

10,000 

55 

60 

Id. of S. Miguel Arcangel . . 

3,762 

950 

106 

28 

8,999 

15 

60 

Id. of S. Luis Obispo de Tolosa 

2,000 

800 

200 

50 

1,200 


24 

Jurisdiction of Santa Barbara 








Presidio of Santa Barbara . . . 

7,900 

1,300 

220 





Mission of La Purisima Concepcion. 

10,500 

1,000 

160 

4 

7,000 

30 

62 

Id. of Sta. Ines. 

7,300 

320 

112 


2,200 


50 

Id. of Sta. Barbara. 

2,600 

511 

150 

2 

3,300 

37 

63 

Id. of S. Buenaventura .... 

4,000 

300 

60 


3,100 

30 

8 

Id. of S. Fernando ReydeEspana 

6,000 

300 

60 

3 

3,000 



Town of La Reina de los Angeles . 

38,624 

5,208 

520 





Jurisdiction of San Diego 








Presidio of San Diego. 

608 

625 

150 

58 




Mission of S. Gabriel Arcangel . . 

20,500 

1,700 

120 

4 

13,554 

76 

98 

Id. of S. Juan Capistrano . . . 

10,900 

290 

30 

5 

4,800 

50 

40 

Id. of S. Luis Rey de Francia . 

26,000 

2,100 

250 

5 

25,500 

1,200 

250 

Id. of S. Diego de Alcala. . . 

6,220 

1,196 

132 

14 

17,624 

325 


Totals. 

216,727 

32,201 

2,844 

177 

153,455 

1,873 

839 


[in the original volume, the names of the missions, both in the tables and in the text, were printed in 
an abbreviated style, and in many instances without the graphic accent. In this reprint edition, the names 
are printed as fully as possible in the tables, and the graphic accent printed wherever proper.] 


In addition to the above, there are a great number 
running wild, particularly mares, which they hunt 
and kill, in order to prevent their eating up the 
pasture from the useful cattle. 

From this immense number of domestic animals 
little advantage is obtained beyond the value of the 
hides and fat. The management of the dairy is 
totally unknown. There is hardly any such thing 
in use as butter or cheese, and what little is made 


















STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


267 


is of the very worst description. It will, no doubt, 
appear strange when I assert that the art of making 
butter and cheese is unknown in all the Americas 
inhabited by the Spaniards and their descendants; 
yet, as far as my own experience goes, as well as 
my information, this is in reality the case ; for 
although something under the name of butter and 
cheese is generally to be found, yet they are made 
in a way entirely different from that practiced in 
the north of Europe, and certainly have but little 
resemblance to those so much esteemed aliments as 
there prepared. Both the butter and cheese, particu¬ 
larly the former, are execrable compounds of sour 
coagulated milk and its cream mixed together, 
the butter being made of the cream, or top of the 
milk, mixed with a large proportion of the sour 
coagulated part, and beat up together by the hand, 
and without a churn, till something of the consis¬ 
tency of butter is produced. It is of a dirty gray 
color, and of a very disagreeable flavor, which in 
a short time is rendered still worse by its tendency 
to get rancid, in which state it is almost always 
found before it arrives at the place of sale, and is, 
of course, intolerable to palates used to that of a 
better sort. The cheese is made of the remainder 
of the sour milk, or sometimes of the whole milk and 
cream. In either case, it is made up in small molds 
containing about half a pound, and undergoes no 


268 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


pressure, except by the hand. It is always mixed 
with a large proportion of salt, and is of a soft, 
crumbling consistency. 

There is another sort of cheese, or something 
resembling it, made of sweet milk coagulated with 
rennet. It is made in thin cakes, which they form 
by pressing the curds between the hands till they 
are freed of the whey, and then left to dry. This 
is called panela , and is much better than the sour 
composition. It is used as a luxury, and sent about 
as presents. 

In some parts of Lower California, situated on 
the gulf, and in the northern parts of Sonora and 
New Mexico, real cheese is made, and some of it 
of very good quality. This, however, is only an 
exception to the general observation, and proves 
that there is nothing to prevent good cheese from 
being made in those countries. How this art has 

been introduced into such remote corners of the 

Spanish possessions as Lower California and New 
Spain, whilst unknown in the others, I am unable 
to ascertain.' 55 ' 

It is truly incredible that from such an immense 
number of cows as is contained in Upper California 

* Good butter has also been made, and continues to be so, though 
in small quantities, (and I believe confined to one ‘dairy,) in the neigh¬ 
borhood of the city of Mexico. This practice was introduced by a 

stranger, since the revolution ; but I understand the consumption is 
chiefly confined to foreigners, and the price very high. 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


269 


no attempt should be made to reap advantage from 
their milk. The produce of the dairy has always 
been an object of consideration and profit in all 
ages and in all countries. It seems, however, that 
even in Old Spain, at the present day, this branch of 
husbandry is much neglected, and it is well known 
that Cadiz and other maritime towns have always 
been supplied with butter and cheese from Holland 
and Ireland. A Mexican gentleman, who was lately 
at Madrid, informs me that no butter is used in that 
city, except as a rarity, and that if it be wanted, it 
must be ordered beforehand, and paid for at a high 
rate. 

It is doubted whether the ancients knew the art 
of making butter and cheese, such as are used 
in our time. Articles of food under these names 
were known, but authors doubt if they were at 
all of the same character as our modern aliments 
of the same name. I am strongly inclined to 
favor those who argue against true butter and cheese 
being known in antiquity, and this solely from 
the example of the Spaniards ; for, as I have before 
said, they must be taken as great authorities in 
whatever relates to ancient customs. They have 
preserved them, not in books, but in practice, in 
much greater purity than any other of the Euro¬ 
pean nations. The Hebrew word which is taken to 
mean butter, I find, is interpreted by some to signify 


270 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


sour thick milk . This is exactly the Spanish butter. 
Sour thick milk, covered by its own cream, is what 
they make their butter of, and sour thick milk, with 
or without the cream, constitutes the material for 
their cheese. The Greek word, I am told, is said 
to mean a mixture of butter and cheese, and the 
Spanish butter is a mixture of butter and cheese, 
and their cheese a mixture of cheese and butter. 
Be this as it may, a prejudice undoubtedly exists 
amongst the natives of Spain, and their American 
progeny, against the aliment of the dairy. Butter 
is never used in cooking or in sauces, and the 
physicians strictly prohibit, in all cases of illness, not 
only butter and cheese, but every sort of milk diet, 
and it is never recommended, and often prohibited, 
even in health. 

It is, at all events, certain that the dairy, in Upper 
California, is entirely neglected, and, in consequence, 
a source of great agricultural riches lost. 

The supercargo of a British ship from India, 
bound for the coast of Mexico, informed me that, 
on making the coast of California, they touched at 
the Russian settlement called La Bodega, and which 
borders on the Spanish territory, or rather of right 
belongs to it, and although the part which the 
Russians possess is sterile in comparison to the fine 
plains occupied by the Spaniards, yet they found, 
immediately on their arrival, a present, sent on board 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


271 


by the Russian governor, of most excellent butter, 
cheese, fat mutton, and good vegetables,—all things 
most desirable to people arriving from a long voyage. 
They soon after proceeded to Monterey, the capital 
of Spanish California, where they could find nothing 
but bull-beef ! Neither bread, butter, cheese, nof 
vegetables were to be procured. This was in the 
beginning of the year 1822, and immediately before 
the revolution ; and I am assured by a Mexican 
officer, lately arrived from Monterey, that the 
strangers, who comprise a considerable proportion 
of the inhabitants of that town, are at this time 
(1834) actually furnished with butter and cheese* 
from' the Russian settlement of La Bodega. 

The Spanish mode of managing cattle is, in 
many other respects, peculiarly their own. They 
leave their oxen uncastrated till they are three or 
four years old. The operation of castration they 
have no idea of performing on calves, so that in 
a large herd of cattle we find a great proportion 
of them are bulls, roaring, and goading each other 
at a fearful rate. The greater part of the beef 
consumed in the city of Mexico is of bulls. It is no 
uncommon thing to see a drove of them, without 
the admixture of a single ox, wending their way to 
the shambles of Mexico, from the very remote parts 
of the republic. Some estates on the shores of the 
Pacific were formerly accustomed to send a thousand 


272 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

bulls at a time to the city of Mexico. This custom 
exists to the present time, but the haciendas , or 
estates, having been much ruined by the revolu¬ 
tionary wars, the numbers are not now so great as 
formerly, but considerable droves, at certain seasons 
of the year, still pass on as heretofore. I never 
could find any reasonable motive alleged for this 
custom. The true one, doubtless, is their having 
inherited it from their forefathers ; and I have no 
doubt it has descended to them uninterruptedly 
from the ancient Lusitanians. This custom is strictly 
preserved in California, and thousands and tens of 
thousands of bulls now roar, in all their native virtue 
and vigor, on its wide-extended plains. 

Owing to this practice, and from the circumstance 
of the cattle being seldom folded, they are very shy, 
and in a half-wild state, for which reason it is 
necessary, in catching them, to use the lasso. This 
has been so often described that it is perhaps 
unnecessary to do so here ; yet it is so wonderfully 
managed by the South Americans that it can never 
be seen practiced without admiration, and, like a 
horse-race or fox-chase, attracts every one within its 
reach to witness it. For although it is, in general, 
a useful and necessary occupation to secure the 
cattle in this way, yet it is, by the lookers-on, 
and even by those engaged in it, considered as 
an amusement, and to which they are passionately 





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Drawn by Capt.Wm. Smyth. R.N. t - c - Russell. Prin/,,- S’ Pu/>.. San Francisco 

Californian Mode of Catching Cattle 

With a Distant View of the Mission of SAN JOSE 



















STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


273 


attached. There is, in all the cattle-estates in Spanish 
America, a time set apart, at certain seasons of the 
year, for the purpose of collecting the cattle, in 
order to overlook and count them, and to brand 
the young ones with the mark of the estate, and 
perform certain other operations, as well as to 
accustom them to take the fold, and prevent them 
from running wild. This is called a rodeo , and is a 
holiday-time to all the inhabitants of the estate and 
its vicinity. Numbers come from great distances to 
assist gratuitously at the fete. On this occasion the 
cattle are driven into a large ring-fold, at a wide 
opening on one side. This is afterwards all closed up, 
except a small door, left for the cattle to be forced 
out at. Those that are to be operated upon are 
made to escape at this door singly; and when a bull 
finds himself in the open field, he makes off with 
the utmost speed, pursued by a space of horsemen 
swinging their lassos in the air ; and while in full 
chase, and when they get within point-blank, those 
foremost throw their lassos, some round the horns, 
others round the neck; some entrap a hind leg, 
others a fore one ; they then stop short their well- 
trained horses, and the bull falls as if shot, tumbling 
heels over head. In a moment he is secured by 
tying the lassos round his legs, and by some of the 
people lying down on his head. In this state the 
wildest bull lies perfectly motionless, and suffers 


274 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


whatever operation has to be performed, almost 
without making an effort at resistance. 

Although I have so often seen the feat of the lasso, 
I never was tired of looking on and wondering at 
the dexterity with which it is performed; nor could I 
ever comprehend exactly by what art a man at full 
gallop could throw a noose so as to catch a bull by 
the hind leg while he was flying from his pursuers 
at all his speed. The noose must necessarily go 
under the foot, be drawn up, and run tight on the 
leg, which appears to be a sleight of hand almost 
impossible. Early and constant practice can only 
enable one to acquire such dexterity, and indeed 
the practice of the lassoers begins from their earliest 
infancy. The first thing you see in a little urchin’s 
hand is a lasso of thread or twine, with which he 
essays to ensnare his mother’s kittens and chickens, 
and perhaps from those elemental essays the theory 
of the lasso can only be comprehended, for the 
rapidity and magical-like effect with which the real 
lasso is thrown leaves no time or opportunity to see 
how it acts. It appears that, to secure the hind leg, 
the large noose of the lasso — which, by swinging it 
round the head, is formed into a circle — is thrown 
so as to pass under the leg at the very moment 
when this is elevated in making the spring, while 
the bull is galloping, and placed exactly where the 
leg must fall on coming to the ground. When the 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


275 


lasso is thus thrown, and the leg placed within the 
circle of its noose, the thrower instantly checks 
his horse, and gives his lasso a jerk in the very 
instant of time when the bulks foot touches the 
ground, and thus draws the noose up and tight 
round the leg. All this must be done in a moment 
of time; and although it appears almost impracti¬ 
cable, yet I think this is the mode of operating. 
To catch the animal by the horns or neck is easily 
understood, and does not require so much skill; 
yet even to do this with certainty to a bull at full 
speed, and on a horse in chase, requires much 
practice and dexterity. The saddles used are well 
fitted to the exercise. They rise high before and 
behind, and have a knob on the fore part, on which 
the riders can lay hold to secure themselves, and on 
which they can make fast or wind up the lasso, the 
end of which, however, is not tied to this knob, but 
to a ring in the girth of the saddle. The horses are 
so taught as to lean over, when checked, against 
the direction in which the bull draws, and thereby 
secure themselves from falling down under the sud¬ 
den tug occasioned by the impetus of the animal 
when it is brought up by the lasso. This, as well as 
the whole proceeding, is admirably shown in Captain 
Smyth’s drawing, from which the plate is taken. The 
bridle used is equally well adapted to the purpose, 
being most powerful in its structure, and calculated 


276 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


for suddenly checking a horse. It is a single curb, 
of a peculiar construction, having the bit doubled 
up high in the mouth, without a joint, and instead of 
a curb-chain it has a solid ring of iron, which passes 
through the upper part of the doubled-up bit within 
the mouth, and then passes behind the lower jaw, 
thus forming a most tremendous lever, sufficient to 
break the horse’s jaw if powerfully applied. The use 
of this makes the horse’s mouth so sensible, and gives 
the rider such complete power over him, that he 
is checked at full speed in the most instantaneous 
manner. It is a common practice, in some parts of 
Spanish America, for the people, in exercising their 
horses, to ride up full speed at a wall, and when 
the horse’s head is within a few inches of it, to 
check them all at once. This masterly mode of 
management of their horses can alone enable them 
to use the lasso with such dexterity as they do. 

I have before said that little milk is used by the 
Spanish race in America, and when they do use it, 
they have a very awkward way of taking it from 
the cow. They think it is absolutely necessary to 
use the calf to induce the cow to give her milk. 
For this reason they first let the calf suck for some 
time alone, and then lay hold of one of the 
teats while the calf is still sucking the others, and 
so by a kind of stealth procure a portion only of 
the milk. They have no idea that a cow would 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


277 


give milk at all if the calf was altogether taken away 
from her; so that when cows are kept for their 
milk, the calves must be kept along with them, 

and as they get the best share, a great number 

of cows and calves must be kept to produce a small 
quantity of milk. 

It will be seen from the table given at page 266, 

that the number of sheep in all Upper California 

is only one hundred and fifty-three thousand odd, 
which might be increased almost without limits; 
but as their wool is of a quality unfit for exporta¬ 
tion, and mutton little used for food, there is no 
encouragement at present for any attention being 
paid to their propagation. The sheep in California, 
as well as in all the other parts of Spanish America, 
are of a bad breed, and their wool of the very 
coarsest quality. The whole seem to be exactly of 
the same kind. It is strange that, while in Spain the 
finest-wooled sheep in the world — the merinos — 
have so long existed, an inferior breed, producing 
the coarsest wool, should have been carried to their 
colonies. Perhaps the propagation of the merinos, 
like the grape, was discouraged or prohibited in the 
Americas, in order, as was the policy of the mother 
country, to give the monopoly to the flocks of Estre- 
madura, as well as to the vineyards of Catalonia. It 
is extraordinary, however, that some one should not 
have introduced into any of those vast countries a 


278 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


better breed, even in the time of the Spanish govern¬ 
ment, and still more extraordinary that, since the 
revolutions, which have removed all obstacles, no 
amelioration of this breed has taken place. There 
are large flocks of sheep in Chile; immense num¬ 
bers on the table-lands of Mexico, which abundantly 
supply the capital with mutton; and myriads scat¬ 
tered over the middle or southern republics, — all 
of which, as well as those of California, are of the 
same breed, and their wool invariably exceedingly 
coarse. It might be thought that in the tropical 
climates the temperature and other circumstances 
may have changed the quality of the fleeces; but in 
Upper California the latitude nearly corresponds with 
that of Estremadura, and in some parts exactly so.; 
yet the quality of the wool is equally bad there, 
as in the equatorial latitudes of Peru and Colombia. 
The British settlements of New Holland and Van 
Diemen’s Land correspond with the latitudes of 
Chile and California, and we see what a fine 
quality of wool is produced there, equaling that 
of Spain, and already forming an important article of 
exportation from those colonies. 

It is impossible to conceive a country more 
adapted to the breeding of sheep than Upper 
California ; and if a good kind were introduced 
by intelligent breeders, the benefit would be incal¬ 
culable. The same plan is followed with the sheep 


STATE OF AGRICULTURE 


279 


as with the black cattle, in respect to castration; 
and the flocks consist only of rams and ewes, with¬ 
out any wethers, which are the most valuable stock. 
The mutton, like the beef, is therefore bad. Droves 
of rams, as well as bulls, are seen daily entering the 
city of Mexico, and other places of consumption all 
over the Spanish Americas. 

Swine do not seem to be very much attended to 
in California, but in other parts of Mexico they 
are bred in great numbers. They are reared and 
fed chiefly for their lard, and are of a very good 
kind, derived from the Chinese breed. They are 
fed in a manner so as to produce as much fat and 
as little flesh as possible. They are allowed to 
grow to a certain age in a lean state, subsisting 
chiefly on such roots and herbs as they can procure 
at large in the woods and fields, and when they 
arrive at the proper age and size for killing, they 
are then shut up, or at least kept at home, and as 
much maize given them as they can eat, this being 
administered to them in moderate quantities at a 
time, so as not to surfeit them. By this means they 
soon get enormously fat, and when slaughtered they 
are found to be almost all lard to the very bones. 
This lard they peel off as blubber is peeled off from 
a whale, the whole being entirely separated from 
every part of the flesh and entrails, leaving an aston¬ 
ishingly small proportion of flesh. They are often 


280 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


so highly fed as to be unable to move. I have 
seen some unable to get farther up than on their 
haunches, just far enough to reach their food, and 
when satiated, tumble down again and grunt them¬ 
selves to sleep. In the sale and purchase of these 
animals, their weight of flesh is never taken into 
account. The calculation is, how many pounds of 
lard they will produce. Lard, with all ranks, is a 
necessary of life. Perhaps in the whole range of their 
cookery—which is sufficiently ample—no dish is done 
without hog’s lard. From the sopa to the frijoles, 
all have a large proportion of it in their composition. 
Even their bread, to eat with the indispensable 
chocolate, has its proportion of lard. And although 
they delight in seeing every dish swimming in this, 
their favorite fat, yet butter in any dish, or used in 
any way as sauce, is abhorred as much by a Spanish- 
American as by an Englishman is the train-oil of a 
Russian boor. 

The following may be taken as about the average 
price of cattle in Upper California at the present 
time. 

Fat ox .... 5 dollars = ;£l 0 0 Mare .... 5 dollars = £\ 0 0 

Cow .... 5 dollars = 100 Sheep .... 2 dollars = 080 

Horse (saddle) . 10 dollars = 2 0 0 Mule .... 10 dollars = 200 


CHAPTER VII 


COMMERCE OF UPPER CALIFORNIA. — NAVIGATION 
— REVENUES 

In the time of the Spanish government, California 
had no foreign commerce ; and as its almost insular 
situation cut it off from any frequent intercourse 
with Mexico by land, it was considered more in 
the light of a colony of that country than as an 
integral part. There was little or no commerce 
or communication carried on between them, except 
by the transmission from San Bias of the annual 
supplies to the missions. The greatest impulse which 
the intercourse between Mexico and California ever 
had was about the years 1792 and 1793, when a 
Spanish squadron was stationed at San Bias for the 
purpose of settling the dispute with England about 
Nootka Sound. This squadron, on their passage 
between San Bias and Nootka, called at Monterey 
and other places in Upper California to take in 
provisions, wood, and water ; but on the retiring of 
the squadron the intercourse reverted to its former 
state, and continued so till the breaking out of the 


281 


282 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


revolution in 1821. Soon after this event, the foreign 
merchants established in Chile and Peru, as well as 
those in Mexico, directed their attention to California 
as a place where some commerce might be carried 
on, particularly in hides and tallow. With this 
view, an English mercantile house in Lima formed 
an establishment at Monterey, and several vessels 
soon after went for the purpose of trading. The 
North-American traders, who are always the first to 
take advantage of new and remote markets, also 
turned their attention to California, and several vessels 
of that nation soon resorted there from the ports 
of South America, as well as from China and the 
Sandwich Islands. By this means some impulse was 
given to this trade, and which was expected to 
increase, but as the articles have been chiefly confined 
to hides and tallow, and the consumption of goods 
small, it has not risen to much importance. 

The amount of the annual exports, in the first 
few years after the opening of the ports to foreign 
vessels, was estimated to be about thirty thousand 
hides, and about seven thousand quintals of tallow, 
with a few small cargoes of wheat which the Russians 
required for their settlements on the northwest 
coast of America. This, with trifling quantities of 
wine, raisins, and olives, carried to San Bias, consti¬ 
tuted the whole of the exports. Those exports were 
paid for in barter, chiefly in coarse manufactured 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


283 


cottons, together with a few other articles of small 
value, necessary to a community who had but few 
artisans, but whose wants were very limited. Taking 
the value of the hides at two dollars each, and the 
tallow at eight dollars per quintal, and reckoning 
the value of the wheat and other articles at fourteen 
thousand dollars, the whole amount of exports would 
have been one hundred and thirty thousand dollars, 
or about twenty-six thousand pounds sterling. 
Since this period, however, the trade has increased 
considerably, particularly in the last year, —1834,— 
owing, it is said, to the missionary friars, in antici¬ 
pation of being displaced, having slaughtered a 
very large number of cattle,—some say to the 
amount of one hundred thousand. Even if this 
be true, the number of black cattle stated in the 
table for 1831 need not be lessened. It is said 
that the missionaries who published those tables 
always gave an account of fewer cattle than they 
actually possessed, so that I presume the amount 
stated in the table is not more than what actually 
exists at the present time, but is more likely to be 
under the real number. 

There has been considerable intercourse of late 
between California and the Sandwich Islands, to which 
live cattle have been carried. This trade, which is 
almost entirely in the hands of the Americans, 
is not yet of much importance, but will increase 


284 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


as the two countries proceed in civilization. There 
has also been lately some demand for wheat and 
provisions for the establishment of the English 
Hudson’s Bay Company on the river Columbia. 

The trade in furs, particularly that of the sea-otter, 
formerly so considerable, and once so promising, 
has dwindled into insignificance. This is so much 
the case, that otter-skins are now occasionally 
imported from the Russian settlements to the north, 
and at an extravagant price, although the animal, 
as we have seen, is so abundant in their own waters. 
When Laperouse visited California in 1786, he 
found at Monterey a Spanish commissary appointed 
by government to collect all the skins of the other 
missions, as a perquisite to the government. They 
amounted then to 20,000, and might have been 
increased to 30,000. Laperouse himself says, in 
his official letter to the Minister of Marine, that 
50,000 could easily be procured annually. When 
it is considered how great the demand for this 
article is in China, and that this demand is not 
always satisfied but at an extravagant price, the great 
potential, if not the actual, value of this article of 
commerce to California will be admitted. 

The imports are such as will be easily understood 
from the account which we have given of the 
inhabitants, and of their habits and wants. They 
consist of cloth, wearing-apparel, articles of furniture, 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 285 

agricultural implements, deals, salt, silks, candles, fire¬ 
works, &c. 

The internal commerce of California is of very 
little consequence. There are, as we have seen, no 
large towns, and the inhabitants of the country 
have not advanced to a state which requires the 
division of labor, which is the basis of internal 
commerce. Where all are cultivators of the soil, 
and at the same time artificers and manufacturers, 
each for his own necessities, there can be few 
interchanges. Before the revolution, a circulating 
medium — that great engine of commerce — was 
scarcely known, and little esteemed; for when noth¬ 
ing was to be bought, money was of no value; 
and when the strangers arrived first on the coast, 
they found no coin, barter being the only thing 
understood. This, however, was advantageous for 
the first adventurers, who sold their goods at the 
exorbitant prices which were established by the 
Spanish merchants for articles which had formerly 
to be conducted from Vera Cruz or Panama, passing 
through many hands before they got to California, 
and surcharged with duties and old-fashioned profits 
without number. Yet goods at those enormous 
prices were more acceptable to the missionaries 
than money, they having their numerous Indians to 
clothe, and a superabundance of cattle to slaughter. 
This state of things, however, has now considerably 


286 UPPER CALIFORNIA 

altered. The success of the first adventurers drew 
others after them, and the missionaries, having 
been well supplied with goods, and finding the 
avidity with which the traders demanded their hides 
and tallow, began to know better the relative value 
of the articles dealt in, and more equitable prices 
were fixed. There is yet very little currency in 
California; and as the small population and little 
industry of the inhabitants do not give room for 
much consumption, the advancement of commerce 
has not been rapid, and it is but yet of very little 
consideration. 

The whole coast of the Pacific Ocean, from 
Valdivia in latitude 40° south to the extremity of 
California in 42° north, was in the exclusive pos¬ 
session of the Spanish nation for three centuries. 
This line of coast bounded countries the most 
fertile in every production the earth affords. The 
abundance of the precious metals was infinitely 
superior to that contained in all the world besides. 
In this immense space is to be found all the varieties 
of climate, and consequently all the exchangeable 
commodities which stimulate commerce. All this 
gave an inexhaustible field for traffic, which ought 
to have exalted that part of the world above all 
others in the scale of commercial opulence. The 
British possessions either in the East or West 
Indies cannot be compared, in extent or variety of 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


287 


productions, to the immense continuous territories of 
the Spaniards in America ; nor can the navigation 
of the seas which surround or border on the British 
colonies — which have their hurricanes, their shoals 
and currents—be compared to the mild Pacific coast 
of America, which is entirely free of all sort of dangers. 
No hurricane, shoal, or dangerous current, is to be 
found in all the extensive coast, from the southern 
to the northern boundary, of the Spanish possessions 
on the Pacific. No line of coast is so perfectly safe 
to navigate. It is literally without danger of any 
description whatever, and more resembles a lake 
navigation than that of an immense ocean. 

The Pacific coast of Spanish America is, in unin¬ 
terrupted extent, equal to the whole coast of the Old 
World, from the Naze of Norway to Cape Verd, in 
Africa. What reflections must this give rise to when 
we consider that this line of coast comprehends 
Denmark, Germany, Holland, the Netherlands, 
Great Britain, France, Portugal, Spain, Italy, the 
countries round the Mediterranean, and part of 
Africa ? And, certainly, the American shores are 
bounded by countries naturally more rich than all 
those ancient and powerful countries united. The 
whole of this American coast was inhabited before 
its discovery by the Spaniards, and many parts of it 
possessed by a people far advanced in civilization; 
yet this immense coast, possessing all the natural 


288 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


productions on the terrestrial globe, and enjoying 
every conceivable advantage for trade, had, over 
its whole extent, — after being three hundred years 
in the possession of Spain, — not more than about 
thirty vessels, exclusive of launches! 

Had this coast and the adjacent countries fallen 
to the lot of England, or any other commercial and 
enterprising nation, what would have been their 
state at this day ? Would they not have rivaled 
Asia ? Would they not have been even superior in 
riches and commerce to that celebrated continent ? 
The American countries so situated are, in fact, 
naturally richer than India, and offer more objects 
of commerce if they were well peopled by an enter¬ 
prising race; the productions of the soil are more 
varied, owing to the greater variation of climate; 
their mineral riches are beyond comparison greater; 
and the useful domestic animals abound in much 
greater perfection and in greater numbers; while 
the whole of the valuable tropical fruits of Asia 
either are produced there, or might be so if culti¬ 
vated. All those immense advantages, however, had 
not the power to rouse the dormant energies of 
the Spaniard. It appeared as if those extraordi¬ 
nary bounties of nature had the effect of lulling 
them into apathy; but whatever the cause might 
have been, certain it is that, until the time that 
those magnificent countries were wrested from the 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


289 


Spanish nation by her own sons, the whole, or 
almost the whole, of so many sources of commer¬ 
cial wealth were entirely neglected. The coasts 
were without commerce or navigation. A death¬ 
like tranquillity reigned in all the provinces, the 
inhabitants of one being scarcely known to the other. 
Indeed, it may be questioned if the people of Mexico 
at that time knew much more of Chile or Buenos 
Ayres than the inhabitants of Labrador know of 
Patagonia at the present day. 

The Spanish system of exclusion and restrictions 
on all foreign trade with their possessions in America 
is well known, but it is remarkable that the duties 
and restrictions on their own coasting trade were 
also most oppressive. The reason for this is quite 
incomprehensible, as it bore only on the subjects 
of Spain, and could hardly be supposed to promote 
their leading principle, viz., to favor the trade of 
the mother country. The produce of one district 
could not be imported into another without paying 
a heavy duty, under the name of alcabala; neither 
could it be removed from one place of sale to 
another, in the same district, without paying over 
again the same alcabala; so that every time goods 
were moved from one town to another, an additional 
duty was to be paid, and this duty has been justly 
styled the never-ending alcabala . The multiplicity 

of laws and regulations by which Spain fettered 
19 U 


290 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


every sort of commerce in the American colonies, the 
vexatious and capricious conduct of the military and 
custom-house officers so notorious in those countries, 
also tended greatly to discourage coasting navigation; 
and so little practiced and so ignorant of their pro¬ 
fession were the navigators on the Pacific coast, that 
it was considered a greater adventure for a coasting- 
vessel to go from one province to another than it 
would be by others to make a voyage round the 
world. There were in Lima two or three large 
vessels for the purpose of bringing wheat from 
Chile. Those vessels belonged to the bakers, and 
made one voyage during the year. They had their 
stated seasons at which they sailed, and their depart¬ 
ure was fixed to a day. They had also their fixed 
track, from which they never deviated. The 
voyage from Lima to Valparaiso is only about four 
hundred leagues, but took usually about three 
months to perform it in. A story is told of one 
of these vessels having got to Chile in fifty days, 
and the captain was put into the Inquisition on the 
suspicion of his having had to do with the Devil. 
The voyage back to Lima, being by a favorable 
wind, was performed in much less time. This 
voyage is now performed outwards in about twenty 
days, and back in about ten. The. same practice 
was observed in the navigation of the other parts 
of the coast. That from San Bias to Monterey, in 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


291 


California, required from two to three months, but 
is now performed in about twenty days. In all the 
coasting trade of America, as well as in the foreign 
voyages of the Spaniards, a fixed track was laid 
down, and never on any account deviated from. The 
orders of the government often pointed out the day 
of sailing, at certain seasons of the year, and the 
route pursued; and a law was in force regulating 
the day on which vessels and fleets should depart 
from the different .ports of America to Spain, Manila, 
&c., which neither the captain, agents, nor owner 
durst disobey. When a Spanish merchant vessel 
arrived in any of the American ports, the captain was 
obliged immediately to wait on the commandant 
and to deliver up to him the ship’s papers. From 
that moment the vessel and captain' were entirely 
under the orders of the commandant. Under the 
Spanish law, all merchant seamen and officers are 
subject to the marine law. They are liable to be tried 
for all offenses, and have the privilege to be sued 
for civil debt only, before the marine military tribunal; 
so that the captain and crews of merchant ships 
were always under martial law, and subject to the 
immediate orders of the naval officers command¬ 
ing at the ports where they might arrive. All 
merchant vessels, before their sailing, had also to be 
examined by the orders of the commandant, and 
must be pronounced by him as fit for performing 


292 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


their voyage in respect to the sufficiency of the hull, 
tackle, provisions, officers, and men, and receive a 
certificate to this effect. This, as may be supposed, 
led to the most scandalous abuses, and, in the state 
of corruption at which Spanish agents had arrived 
in the Americas, this certificate was not often to 
be obtained without fees and bribes proportionate 
to the ability of the giver or the rapacity of the 
receiver. No redress was left to the unhappy 
captain or supercargo of a vessel who fell into the 
hands of a rapacious commandant, or one whom 
he might have offended; for a Spanish employee 
never failed to fortify himself with such an over¬ 
whelming multitude of legal documents, signed 
and countersigned by judges and notaries, and 
approved by all the cautious checks which the 
Spanish government, in its wisdom, had invented to 
prevent fraud in their American officers! The civil 
institutions of the Spaniards were, in this respect, 
much in the style of their religious discipline. 
If an officer took care to make out the whole of 
the complicated written documents required by the 
regulations, if he had the number of prescribed 
signatures, the approbation and attestation of the 
various officers appointed to check and countercheck 
his accounts, he might rob and oppress as much 
as he pleased. All his documents being correct, 
no charge could be made against him, just as 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


293 


a good Spanish Catholic may commit all the sins in 
the decalogue, yet if he conform to the ceremonies 
prescribed by the Church, he is a good Catholic 
still, and the Inquisition itself could not meddle 
with him. 

It would be curious to collect some of the voy¬ 
ages performed by the Spaniards, not only on the 
American coasts, but from Manila and other parts 
of Asia, as well as from Europe, and to compare 
them with the improved navigation of the present 
day. I shall only here give a brief account of one 
of the voyages from Manila to America, as related to 
me by an officer of the vessel which performed it. 

The ship Philipina, of seven hundred tons burden, 
in the service of the Spanish Philippine Company, 
commanded by Don Juan Yvergoytie, a captain 
in the Spanish royal navy, officered by lieutenants 
and midshipmen also of the navy, and manned 
with a crew of a hundred and forty men, sailed 
from Manila in 1799, with a cargo of bale-goods, 
bound to Lima. On leaving Manila, it was the 
captain’s intention to keep to the southward, by a 
track which had been recommended to him, and 
which was sanctioned by the royal authorities, but, 
in attempting this new route, they encountered 
nothing but contrary winds, and were obliged, after 
being some time at sea, to put first into the island 
of Mindanao, and afterwards into the Pellew Islands, 


294 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


in order to procure a fresh stock of water and to 
recover their crew, many of whom were already 
affected with scurvy. The captain then gave up 
his plan of pursuing this route, and proceeded by 
the usual course to the northward. After a long 
passage, they made the coast of California, and 
put into Monterey, where they laid in a fresh stock 
of water and provisions and refreshed their crew. 
They then left that port and proceeded to San 
Bias. The whole time occupied in the voyage from 
Manila to San Bias was eleven months; but as a 
great proportion of the voyage to Lima was still to 
be performed, and as there were rumors of English 
vessels being in the Pacific, the captain petitioned 
the Viceroy of Mexico to be allowed to discharge 
his cargo at San Bias, which was granted, and a 
termination put to this eventful voyage. At the 
present time, a voyage from Manila to San Bias 
is performed in about seventy days, and from 
Manila to Lima in three months. If the good 
ship Philipina had proceeded to Lima, her ultimate 
destination, her voyage could not have been shorter 
than fourteen or fifteen months. This vessel 
remained a year at San Bias, where her expenses 
amounted to 72,000 Spanish dollars, and then 
returned to Manila. 

A friend of mine has often told me that he was 
the first who owned a square-rigged Mexican vessel 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 295 

on the Pacific. He arrived at San Bias in 1802, in 
a vessel belonging to the Philippine Company, and 
having obtained liberty to remain in the country, 
set about constructing a vessel at that port, for the 
purpose of trading on the coast. After an infinity 
of difficulties, he succeeded in launching and rigging 
his vessel, which he called the Guadalupe, in honor 
of the patron saint of Mexico. This vessel was of 
the burden of 26 tons, and brig-rigged. The owner 
was not a little proud of his enterprise and of his 
vessel, with which he proceeded to trade in the 
Gulf of California. He had also the honor to be 
the first who entered the port of Guaymas with a 
sailing vessel, although it is now so much frequented 
by vessels of all descriptions. On approaching this 
fine harbor, he had his doubts if there was sufficient 
water to admit the Guadalupe, for she drew no 
less than four feet and a half ; but by keeping the 
lead constantly going, and approaching under easy 
sail, he anchored in safety, and found that a 74-gun 
ship might have done so alongside of him. 
This vessel, being the first of that class which was 
ever seen on that part of the coast, created great 
curiosity and wonder, and on the report of her 
arrival reaching the interior, the country people 
flocked to see her, the most respectable families 
coming from a great distance to Guaymas for 
that purpose. 


296 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


Although what has been said may, in some 
measure, account for the backwardness and want 
of enterprise which was so remarkable in all the 
Spanish colonies of America, yet another great cause 
sprang from the immense field which every one 
found unoccupied in his immediate neighborhood, 
and which presented at home more objects than 
his industry or his capital could embrace, and 
prevented him from embarking in maritime enter¬ 
prises to distant parts, with which he had few or no 
commercial relations, and of which he had little 
geographical knowledge. A Spanish creole of Peru 
had much more knowledge of the land of Canaan 
or Palestine than of Mexico or California. 

The separation, however, of the colonies from the 
mother country, and consequently from the Spanish 
monopoly, opened a wide field to all sorts of enter¬ 
prise ; but the native inhabitants were without 
knowledge or means to profit by the circumstance, 
in as far as regarded the navigation and commercial 
facilities of these coasts. The want was at first 
almost entirely supplied by strangers, who resorted 
to these countries on the opening of the ports, and 
by them the coasting trade was at first exclusively 
carried on. The vessels were owned by strangers, 
and the crews consisted of foreign seamen. This, 
however, was soon looked on with jealousy by the new 
republics, although some of the more enlightened 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


297 


saw that the only way to create a marine was to 
admit foreign sailors, foreign vessels, and foreign 
capital, in order to breed up their own people to a 
seafaring life, and to give time for native artisans 
and native capital to grow up, so as to enable them 
to have ships and a coasting trade by degrees. 
Chile seemed to adopt this principle, as it has done 
every other liberal one, in a much greater degree 
than any of the other states; but Mexico, which 
is the least maritime of all the others, and ought 
to admit foreign seamen with most freedom, has 
adopted the old-fashioned and exclusive measures, 
as if it were a first-rate maritime nation of the old 
school, decreeing that all Mexican vessels shall be 
commanded and officered by Mexicans, and that 
two thirds of their crews shall be native seamen. 
This wise decree was made when there was not one 
Mexican captain, officer, or seaman on the whole 
Pacific coast of the Mexican republic ! Mexico, in 
this, as well as in all other matters of commercial 
regulation, has adhered more than any of her sister 
republics to the old Spanish regimen, and, like her 
maternal prototype, has succeeded in putting herself 
almost out of the list of commercial countries. 
While the government is continually talking of the 
country’s regeneration, and of its determination to 
adopt a liberal system, and particularly to protect 
the coasting trade, it is daily issuing some absurd 


298 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


law founded on the jealousy of strangers interfering, 
by which it manages to put the country almost on 
the same footing as it was in the time of the Spanish 
monopoly. If the laws now in existence on paper 
were rigidly enforced, there would not at this moment 
be a single coasting-vessel on all the Mexican coast 
of the Pacific. There is not a single vessel at this 
moment commanded by a Mexican, nor are there 
any officered or manned by natives, yet decrees 
are thundered out against abuses, and contraband, 
and infractions of laws, as bulls are from the 
Vatican, and are as much attended to. The mis¬ 
erable and antiquated commercial policy of Mexico 
has rendered the merchants in her dominions a 
set of smugglers, her custom-house officers their 
abettors, and has reduced her trade and the reve¬ 
nues from her custom-houses to a point almost of 
insignificance. 

From what has been said it will not appear 
strange that the intercourse between California and 
Mexico has never been very active. It has not 
improved much since the separation of the countries 
from Spain. The communication between the two 
is still very infrequent, and the commercial transac¬ 
tions of no importance whatever. California holds 
hardly the relation of even a colony to Mexico. 
Mexico has more intercourse with China than with 
California. Even at the time I am writing, advices 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


299 


are not received in Mexico from Monterey above 
once or twice in a year. The last deputy elected 
by California to the Mexican Congress informed 
me that, during the two years he served, he only 
received two letters from California while in 
Mexico. It remains to be seen whether the new 
order of things in this country will lead to more 
enlightened views and greater commercial enterprise. 
The new project, also, of a line of communication, 
by steamers, along the whole coast of the Pacific, 
if ever carried into effect, will doubtless modify 
considerably the present state of things; but nothing 
can permanently benefit California until she pos¬ 
sesses inhabitants of more enlightened views, and 
consents to remodel her internal economy, civil 
and political. 

Although no further connected with the subject 
of the present chapter than in having reference to 
navigation, I cannot help mentioning in this place 
two circumstances of recent occurrence, which have 
come to my notice, and which may by some be 
considered as illustrating the very difficult and 
long - contested question of the first peopling of 
America. 

The British brig Forester, bound from London to 
the river Columbia, and commanded by Mr. John 
Jennings, fell in with, in the year 1813, a Japa¬ 
nese junk of about 700 tons burden, one hundred 


300 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


and fifty miles off the northwest coast of America, 
and abreast of Queen Charlotte Island, about 49° 
of north latitude. There were only three persons 
alive on board, one of whom was the captain. By 
the best accounts Captain Jennings could get from 
them, they had been tossing about at sea for nearly 
eighteen months. They had been twice in sight of 
the land of America, and driven off. Some beans 
still remained, on which they had been maintaining 
themselves, and they had caught rain-water for 
their drink. This vessel had left the northern 
coast of Japan, loaded with timber for some of 
the islands to the southward, and had been blown 
off the coast by gales of wind. She had no masts 
standing, but was, in other respects, not much 
injured. Captain Jennings took the survivors on 
board of his vessel, and delivered them at the Russian 
settlement of Norfolk [?] Sound, the governor of 
which, owing to the friendship existing between 
Russia and the Japanese, sent a vessel on purpose 
with them to their own country. In the course 
of ages, many such circumstances might happen ; 
and if a vessel, in a like situation, having some 
women on board, should have been driven on shore 
on the American coast, the origin of a race would 
have been the result. And, considering the high 
antiquity of the Japan empire, and the number of 
ages which navigation has been known to them, it 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


301 


is quite probable that many such contingencies should 
have happened, particularly when it is considered 
that in these latitudes the prevailing winds blow 
from the westward, and consequently directly from 
the coast of Japan to that of America. 

The other circumstance is the recent arrival of a 
Japanese junk at the Sandwich Islands, and of which 
I have received the following account. “On the 
1st of January, 1833, a Japanese junk appeared off 
those islands, and anchored on the west side of 
Oahu, when a native of China, living on the island, 
went on board and found four men alive, but only 
one able to walk. The account they gave was, that 
they had left Japan about eleven months before, 
with a crew of eight people; that they were driven 
off the coast; that they had been living on salt fish 
and rain-water; and that the other four men had 
died of starvation. This vessel was only of about 
eighty tons burden, and was lost in attempting to 
get her into a harbor in Oahu/' This is a proof 
that the islands in the Pacific might have been, at 
least, peopled from the same quarter, although the 
arrival of vessels from Japan at these islands must 
have been more rare than on the north coast of 
America, because they are situated more southerly, 
and not in the track of the prevailing westerly 
winds, but, on the contrary, within the easterly 
trade winds. The present circumstance, however, 


302 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


removes all doubt of the possibility of such arrivals, 
and is the more remarkable as the Sandwich Islands 
are amongst the most easterly, and consequently 
most distant from the Asiatic continent, so that the 
arrival of vessels at the other less remote islands is 
still more probable. 

Revenue. — From what has been stated, in this 
and the preceding chapter, of the agriculture and 
commerce of California, its revenue cannot be sup¬ 
posed to be of much consequence. It may be said, 
indeed, that, before the revolution, it produced 
no national revenue whatever. The tithes which 
belonged to the government were collected from the 
free settlers, but, as the missions were exempted, 
their value was a mere trifle. On the opening of 
the ports in 1821, and for some years after, the 
collectors of the customs were officers appointed 
by the different presidios to receive such duties as 
might be obtained from any vessels arriving in their 
respective districts ; and although a commissioner 
was sent from Mexico in 1825, little was done by 
him. The same practice continued till 1828, when 
Don Jose Maria Echeandia was named commandant- 
general, who appointed a collector and comptroller 
of the custom-house, to reside at San Diego, and 
to have subordinate officers at Monterey. Since 
that time some order has been introduced in 
the collection of the duties. About this time it 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 


303 


was conceded by the Mexican government that, owing 
to the poverty of California, and to encourage its 
settlement, two fifths of the duties established by 
the general Mexican tariff should be deducted on 
all goods landed in both Californias; but on being 
re-exported to the other Mexican states, these two 
fifths should be exacted on the goods so re-exported. 
This regulation still exists. The Mexican duties 
are charged by a tariff which fixes the rates on 
every different article. This tariff was promulgated 
in 1828, and discovers the utter incapacity of its 
framers for such a task. The whole of the imports 
are fixed at a most exorbitantly high rate, which 
causes a duty of not less, in most cases, than from 
a hundred and fifty to two hundred per cent on the 
first cost. But ridiculous distinctions are formed, 
in order to protect the imaginary interests of their 
native manufactures, and fruits of their soil, as 
well as many prohibitions with the same object. 
The modern governments of the world are at last 
discovering their errors, and striving to explode 
the old-fashioned and ruinously illiberal system 
of protecting duties and national preference to 
manufactures and arts not adapted to their soil or 
circumstances, and which has contributed so much 
to the alienation of one people from another, as if 
they had distinct interests, and as if they ought 
to contribute to the discomfort of their neighbors 


304 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


for the purpose of securing some imaginary advantage 
to themselves. 

The Mexicans, however, still see nothing but 
wisdom and the sources of political prosperity in 
all the antiquated prohibitions, protections, and 
exorbitant duties of the most barbarous age of 
commerce ! This outrageous system, so contrary 
to sound policy, and so opposite to the modern 
and enlightened doctrines of political economy, 
has reduced the revenue from her custom-houses to 
a trifle, and her treasury to bankruptcy. The old 
colonial system, however much decried by the new 
republics, seems so rooted in their natures that 
nothing but what savors of its ancient principles 
seems good policy. The same organization of the 
custom-houses, the same divisions of duties under 
different denominations and percentages which create 
an interminable set of accounts and documents, 
the same number of officers, — in short, the same 
confusion, and facilities for contraband, still exist, 
in their revenue department, in all the perfection 
of the olden time. These, and their necessary 
appendages of alcabalas and custom-houses in every 
inland town, which rendered the fiscal laws and 
practices of Spain and her colonies so intolerable, 
still flourish in all their vigor, and place the new 
republics almost out of the pale of enlightened 
commercial communities, and at the same time 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 305 

make them so remarkable for their bad financial 
credit. The whole of the new republics which 
have arisen out of the old Spanish colonies have 
strictly imitated their parent in putting their finances 
in a state of bankruptcy, in which, under their 
present systems, they are likely to remain. 

I should be exceedingly sorry, by the foregoing 
general observations, to inculpate the whole of the 
statesmen in those new countries now erected into 
republics. I know that many of them are of the 
most liberal and enlightened views, and capable of 
governing their country on better principles; and I 
also know that supposed circumstances of necessity 
oblige a great proportion of their best-informed 
citizens to yield to the policy which they know 
to be mischievous, in the hope that in better times 
wiser measures may be adopted; but it unfortunately 
has happened, particularly with Mexico, of which 
country I am now speaking, that its government 
has been hitherto controlled by persons who have 
not put in practice even the rudiments of an 
enlightened policy in its commercial laws, nor 
made one step to the reform of its ruined and 
bankrupt finances. Unfortunately, the great bulk 
of the people think that, instead of reducing the 
duties, abating the eternal custom-houses, and sim¬ 
plifying the absurd classifications of duties at the 
maritime custom-houses, in order to augment their 


306 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


prosperity and better their revenue, they have only to 
impose higher duties, multiply officers of the customs, 
pass restrictive measures for the encouragement of 
native manufactures which do not exist, and to fulmi¬ 
nate decrees and issue moral precepts against unfaithful 
employees, and smuggling citizens, and foreigners. 
In this manner the Mexican government has gone 
on, through all its changes in the steady course of 
heaping duties upon duties, multiplying restriction, 
and augmenting offices, till its mercantile system has 
become a monstrosity not to be paralleled in any 
corner of the world. 

The general Mexican tariff applies equally to Cali¬ 
fornia as to the other parts of the republic, except 
the abatement of two fifths already mentioned; but 
as this is only a temporary measure, it is liable to 
be recalled at any time the government may think 
fit. Many of the regulations and prohibitions of 
this tariff are quite absurd as applied to California, 
for its productions are entirely different from those 
of the tropical climates of Mexico, for which it 
is adapted ; but nothing has been attempted to 
modify its provisions so as to fit it to the peculiar 
circumstances of that country. 

The following account of the financial state of 
Upper California in 1831 may be depended on. It 
was furnished to me by a friend well acquainted 
with the subject. 


COMMERCE —NAVIGATION 307 

The expense of the presidial companies, according 
to the late regulations, is estimated at ninety-one 
thousand dollars per annum, to which must be 
added the pay of the commandant-general, sub¬ 
inspector, auxiliary troops of the squadron of 
Mazatlan, maintenance of the convicts, and other 
various charges, which, all together, may be reckoned 
at forty thousand dollars. This will make the whole 
charges borne by the general Mexican government 
amount to one hundred and thirty-one thousand 
dollars. The net amount of the revenue does not 
exceed thirty-two thousand dollars, thus making a 
deficiency of about one hundred thousand dollars 
annually to be borne by the Mexican treasury, over 
the revenue produced in the territory of Upper 
California. 

This is the state of the revenue of Upper California, 
to which Mexico would have, if it paid its debts and 
its soldiers, to remit one hundred thousand dollars 
annually; but as the Mexican treasury is not in the 
habit of satisfying very punctually the demands 
against it, and as it has quite as urgent claims 
from other quarters of the republic, nearer home, 
California is left to bear the deficiency the best 
way it can. Instead of money, military officers 
and placemen are sent, with reams of laws and 
orders to repair the system, and to apply the 
current nostrums of the day to heal all maladies, 


308 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


leaving, as heretofore, the soldiers in rags and the 
employees without pay. The result of the whole 
is, that all parties have to recur to the missions and 
the friars for their daily maintenance, to prevent 
them from starvation. The debt owing by the 
government to the missions for such supplies 
amounted, in 1831, to four hundred and fifty 
thousand dollars.* 


* No alterations have been made in this chapter since it was first 
written. It must, consequently, be understood to refer to the state 
of things previously to the late revolution. — Ed. 


CHAPTER VIII 

UPPER CALIFORNIA CONSIDERED AS A FIELD FOR FOREIGN 
COLONIZATION 

It would not be supposed, a priori , that men would 
select for their abode either the extreme northern 
regions, where the fruits of the earth are scarce, 
and the labor required to produce them great, and 
where all manner of privations are excessive, or the 
burning climes of the tropics, where dangers and 
discomforts of a very different kind, but equally 
great, abound; and yet, however inexplicable it 
may be, we find human beings who seem to 
prefer for their habitations the frozen regions of 
the higher latitudes, and the scorching plains of the 
torrid zone. We find people clinging to a soil 
which does not yield them sufficient subsistence, 
and to a climate which threatens to freeze them to 
death. We find human beings in Patagonia who 
have to support life by eating raw fish taken from 
the sea, or the flesh of wild animals, whose skins 
serve to preserve them from perishing of cold. We 

309 


310 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


also find, near the opposite pole, beings equally 
wretched, and refusing to move from their native 
snows. We find, on the other hand, men inhabiting 
the most pestiferous situations, under the very line, in 
the midst of forests and marshes, whose exhalations 
communicate to the air they breathe pestilence and 
death, and whose whole lives are passed in defending 
themselves from noxious animals and poisonous 
reptiles. Is it not astonishing that the frozen and 
uninhabitable shores of Patagonia, Hudson’s Bay, 
the pestiferous marshes of the tropical coast of 
America, and the burning sands of Africa, should 
be filled with people, whilst such delightful countries 
as California are so devoid of inhabitants ? Again, 
we find in Europe a superabundant and daily 
increasing population, the utmost exertions of a 
great part of whom cannot procure them bread. 
In Great Britain and Ireland, there are millions 
of human beings, of superior intellects and varied 
acquirements, who find it utterly impossible to get 
employment or food; and yet countries exist, in 
which the choicest fruits of nature are left to waste 
for want of hands to gather them, and where labor 
is hardly necessary to enable every one to live in 
plenty. While in Europe lands can only be acquired 
by the rich and the powerful, in some of the finest 
countries of the earth luxuriant soils are lying waste, 
without proprietors and without cultivators. 


COLONIZATION 


311 


Taking every circumstance into account, perhaps 
no country whatever can excel or hardly vie with 
California in natural advantages. Its geographical 
situation is such as one would point out if he was 
desired to select the most favored situation in the 
world. Its topographical relations are also most 
favorable. It stretches along the shores of the Pacific 
Ocean without extending much inland, and thereby 
enjoys all the manifold advantages of a maritime 
country. * By its great extension from north to 
south, settlers have also the option of selecting a 
climate suited to their health or views. Other 
countries there are, of course, which have the same 
relative situation on the globe; but I think it may 
safely be asserted that there is no other, of the same 
extent, which possesses so many natural and local 
advantages. Some countries, although they are 
placed in the same geographical relation, are sandy 
deserts or inundated marshes; others are uninhabitable 
mountains or impervious forests. Some are destitute 
of ports and rivers; while others are surrounded 
or possessed by savages, or bordered by shoals 
and unapproachable shores. California, on the 
contrary, enjoys natural and local advantages equal 
to its geographical situation. Its soil is of the 
most fertile description, capable of producing the 

* I speak of that part inhabited by the Spaniards, for, taken in its 
whole extent, California reaches far inland. 


312 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


choicest fruits and grains in the greatest perfection 
and abundance. Its coasts are bold, and free of 
danger, washed by the placid Pacific Ocean, and 
possessed of ports of the first order. It is also watered 
by abundant rivers ; and there is nothing in the 
configuration of the surface of the country to forbid 
the eternal spring which its situation promises. 
There is found a temperature equally removed 
from extreme heat or cold; and the range of hills 
which bound the maritime portion of California to 
the northeast shelter it from the only winds which 
might be apprehended seriously to injure the fruits 
of its soil or to incommode its inhabitants. 

The situation of California for intercourse with 
other countries, and its capacity for commerce, — 
should it ever be possessed by a numerous and 
industrious population, — are most favorable. Its 
western shores on the Pacific, as has been already 
shown, possess capacious ports. The port of San 
Francisco, for size and safety, is hardly surpassed 
by any in the world. It is so situated as to be 
made the center of the commercial relations which 
may take place between Asia and the western coasts 
of America. The route by which the voyage from 
India, China, Manila, and other Asiatic countries, 
is performed to the American coast, particularly to 
that of Mexico, Guatemala, &c., obliges vessels 
to pass very near the coast of California, because, 


COLONIZATION 


313 


in order to avoid the easterly trade-winds, it is 
necessary to stand to the northward to get into 
the variable and prevailing westerly winds, just as 
vessels must do when bound from the West Indies 
to Europe. The vessels of the Spanish Philippine 
Company, on their passage from Manila to San Bias 
and Acapulco, generally called at Monterey for 
refreshments and orders. Thus it appears as if 
California was designed by nature to be the medium 
of connecting, commercially, Asia with America, and 
as the depot of the trade between those two vast 
continents, which possess the elements of unbounded 
commercial interchange ; the one overflowing with 
all the rich and luxurious commodities always 
characteristic of the East, the other possessing a 
superabundance of the precious metals and other 
valuable productions to give in exchange. 

California is also admirably calculated for carrying 
on a trade with all the new republics bordering on 
the Pacific; and as its productions are of a different 
description from those of the countries chiefly situ¬ 
ated within the tropics, it is capable of furnishing 
them with articles of indispensable necessity, which 
hitherto they have been obliged to procure from 
Europe at an enormous expense, and often, from 
the length of the voyage, rendered useless by the 
damaged state in which they arrived. California 
could furnish abundantly all those countries with 


314 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


flour, potatoes, salted provisions, hides, tallow, 'butter, 
cheese, wine, brandy, oil, olives, raisins, apples, and 
other fruits, as also with hemp or cordage, flax, 
wood, pitch, tar, &c., all of which would arrive by 
a short voyage, and in perfect condition, and be 
furnished at reasonable prices. 

Another commercial field offers to be gradually 
opened, in the numerous islands scattered over the 
Pacific Ocean, with some of which, particularly 
with the Sandwich Islands, considerable dealings are 
already carried on by foreign vessels, and also by 
those under the Sandwich Island flag. These carry 
live-stock to those islands, which have benefited 
amazingly by the introduction of black cattle and 
horses, of which they now possess large numbers. 

The foregoing is a brief view of what commercial 
consequence California might soon arrive at if peopled 
by an active and enterprising race of men; but, under 
the present system, and while the population retain 
their present character of indolence and total want 
of enterprise, it must stand still. If, on the con¬ 
trary, this country was under an enlightened and 
liberal government, which knew how to promote 
its colonization, and to encourage the resort of 
industrious settlers, from whatever quarter they 
might come, it could not fail to become known, 
and selected as a refuge by the innumerable starving 
population of the Old World, and would soon be one 


COLONIZATION 


315 


of the most interesting and prosperous spots on the 
earth. It is true that its distance from Europe is 
great, but it is not much greater than that to New 
Holland or Van Diemen’s Land, which so many 
emigrants now reach at a moderate expense. 

The great number of vessels proceeding to fish for 
whales in the Pacific might also, perhaps, be made 
the means of conveying emigrants to California, so 
as to be advantageous both to the owners of the 
vessels and the passengers. This fishery has, of late 
years, been most successful on the coast of Japan ; 
and to vessels passing to that coast round Cape 
Horn, California would not be much out of the 
way. They would there be able to refresh their 
crews, and lay in a fresh stock of provisions and 
water for their ultimate destination. These vessels 
carry out empty casks for the purpose of holding 
their oil. These would serve for carrying water 
for the passengers, so that, except in the article of 
provisions, scarcely any additional expense would 
be incurred. 

Should the projects, now much talked of, of 
forming a railroad across the Isthmus of Panama, 
and of establishing a line of steamers along the 
western coast of South America, be ever carried 
into effect, the means of transport of individuals to 
California would be extremely easy, and in less than 
half the time required for a voyage to Australia. 


316 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


The probability of the commercial advantages of 
such projects forms quite a separate subject 
of inquiry. 

The opening of a passage from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, across the Isthmus of Panama, or at some 
more favorable point in that neighborhood, by means 
of a canal, has long occupied the attention of the 
nautical and scientific world; and if this enterprise 
should ever be carried into effect, a voyage from 
Europe to California would be comparatively short, 
and emigrants could be carried there with little 
more expense than to Canada. If ever this route 
shall be opened, California will then be one of the 
most interesting commercial situations in the world. 
It would, in that case, be the point of rendezvous 
for all vessels engaged in the trade between Europe 
and Asia by that route. It is nearly mid-voyage 
between those two continents, and would furnish 
provisions and all naval supplies in the most ample 
abundance, and most probably would become a mart 
for the interchange of the commodities of the three 
continents. No other station in the course of this 
route would be in any way equal to California. The 
parts of America through which the supposed canal 
must pass must be low and in a tropical climate, 
consequently unhealthy; they are also unproductive 
of provisions and naval stores; whereas California 
presents a healthy climate, good harbors, provisions, 
and naval stores of all descriptions. 


COLONIZATION 


317 


The opening of this passage may perhaps be 
considered as a remote contingency. But when 
we reflect on what has been achieved within the 
last fifty years, what has been the progress of the 
world in that time, and look at what is in progress, 
is it too much to indulge in a hope that this 
enterprise, so manifestly useful, and on all hands 
allowed to be practicable, may at no very distant 
period be accomplished ? If California, and the 
country through which the proposed canal has to 
pass, had appertained to England for three hundred 
years, as they have done to Spain, would not, at 
this day, such a canal have been the thoroughfare 
for the trade to Asia ? Nay, would not the people of 
England have opened this communication for the 
sole purpose of settling such a country as California, 
if no other object had been taken into account ? 

I shall here presume to give my opinion, that all 
attempts to make a passage between the two oceans 
will be abortive, unless the territory through which 
the canal passes shall be ceded in sovereignty to some 
powerful European state, or put under the guaranty 
of a convention of European states, because the 
new republics into which the late Spanish colonies 
have been divided have not the stability, nor 
have they adopted that liberal policy, which is 
necessary to insure a free transit, indispensable for 
the good success of such an undertaking. The 


318 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


security of those who had to expend such large 
sums of money, and the protection of the extensive 
commerce which would have to pass through such 
territory, are alike indispensable. Another consid¬ 
eration, in my opinion, is also indispensable to the 
success and utility of this undertaking, viz., that 
the canal should be made of a capacity sufficient 
to admit merchant vessels to pass through without 
discharging their cargoes. To make a canal for 
boats, or on any other scale than to permit vessels 
to pass on to the ulterior destination of the goods, 
would be entirely nugatory. The expense and delay 
of transporting the cargoes by boats, in such a country 
as that through which the canal passes, would be 

very great, and the loss, by periodical rains, robbery 
by an ill - regulated population, and a thousand 
causes, would counterbalance all other advantages; 
but the principal difficulty and expense would be 
to procure vessels in the Pacific to prosecute the 
remaining part of the voyage. On this ocean, 

at present, the freights paid for vessels are most 

exorbitant, and from the nature of the coasts in 

the neighborhood of the canal, which are all 
unhealthy, and unfit for the creation or maintenance 
of a marine, no improvement of consequence is to 
be expected. It would result, in the case supposed 
of a mere boat-canal, that, after a cargo had been 
forwarded to the eastern entrance of the canal, and 


COLONIZATION 


319 


transmitted to the Pacific by boats, the time that 
might elapse before a vessel could be procured to 
proceed with this cargo to China or other destination 
would be more, and the expense greater, than if 
the original vessel had proceeded directly round the 
Cape of Good Hope. It has been lately much 
recommended to make a railroad from Porto Bello 
to Panama, or somewhere in that vicinity; but the 
foregoing objections exist to this, in all their force, 
as to a canal for boats, and I should consider such 
an undertaking utterly useless, in a commercial point 
of view. If, on the contrary, the canal was made 
capable of admitting vessels to pass through with 
their cargoes, the delay would be very small and the 
expense trifling. Asia would be thereby brought 
by one half nearer to Europe, and the passage 
to all the west coast of America and the Pacific 
islands shortened in a still greater degree. This 
revolution in the commerce with Asia and the Pacific 
Ocean, if it were to happen, would aggrandize the 
country of which we have been treating, in an 
extraordinary manner; and however distant this 
era may be, it is not to be supposed that, in 
the present state of the world, when such rapid 
progress is making in everything that is useful, this 
gigantic improvement will be indefinitely delayed, 
and particularly when it would appear that the 
means are but trifling in comparison to the end 


320 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


proposed. When we look at what has already been 
done in North America, England, Holland, France, 
and other countries, the undertaking alluded to 
does not appear to be formidable. Perhaps the 
Caledonian Canal, which passes through Scotland, 
and unites the North Sea with the Atlantic, is not a 
much inferior undertaking to the one proposed, and 
the plan on which it has been constructed ought to 
be adopted. This canal is capable of admitting the 
largest loaded merchant vessels to pass through it 
without discharging ; and one of the same capacity 
between the Atlantic and Pacific would effect all 
the vast advantages which I have mentioned, and, 
indeed, many more. 

In the present unsettled and uncertain state of 
Upper California, in its internal and external political 
relations, and more particularly in the state of anarchy 
which has resulted from the changes that have 
taken place since the preceding chapters of the 
present work were written, it would be absurd to 
recommend it as a field for emigration at this 
moment. As, however, this state of things cannot 
be expected to be permanent, and as it is to be 
hoped that, whether the country reunites itself with 
Mexico or achieves permanent independence, more 
liberal and enlightened principles . of government 
and state polity will prevail, there appears much 
probability that the views that have heretofore been 


COLONIZATION 


321 


entertained respecting the colonization of the coun¬ 
try hy foreigners will be greatly modified, and that 
encouragement will be given to the only proceeding 
calculated to effect the permanent prosperity of the 
country. Should such be the case, I know of no 
place, as I have already stated, better calculated for 
receiving and cherishing the superflous population of 
Great Britain. Hitherto, nothing could have been 
less encouraging to the settlement of strangers than 
the proceedings of the successive governments of 
republican Mexico. For although the different 
parties who have ruled the country have, in many 
public acts, held forth their great desire to encour¬ 
age emigration to all parts of the country, all their 
laws devised with this object have been dictated too 
much in the old Spanish spirit to be really practically 
useful. By the multiplication of regulations and 
restrictions, they contrived to envelop their meaning 
and provisions in such uncertainty that they could 
scarcely be understood, while most of them embraced 
some antiquated prohibitive principle which rendered 
the whole nugatory. In all of the acts relating to 
emigration, for instance, there have been such 
absurd clauses as that the emigrant must profess the 
Catholic religion; that he shall have a certain capital, 
a trade or profession; that he shall appear before the 
authority, shall have a regular passport, &c. 

As yet, few strangers have established themselves 

21 Y 


322 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


in Upper California. Such as have done so, have 
proceeded thither, as it were, casually, in vessels 
trading to the coast, and are, consequently, chiefly 
seafaring men; but several mechanics and others 
have also established themselves, and all have been 
received with the utmost kindness by the natives, and 
the greater part of them have intermarried with them. 
The native inhabitants are indeed remarkable for their 
peaceable, inoffensive character; and on their part 
no opposition is to be apprehended. It might be 
presumed that the chief opposition to the admission 
of strangers was to be expected from the missionaries. 
It would be supposed that, from their education, 
and from the fear of losing the influence they 
possess, none could view the entrance of strangers 
with so much jealousy as they; but it is a curious 
fact, that, from the first establishment of these 
missions to the present day, as well in the time of 
the Spanish government as under the republican 
system, the reception of strangers has always been 
much more cordial by the missionaries than by the 
government officers ! The different navigators who 
have touched on the coast of California since its first 
settlement have unanimously borne testimony to 
this fact; and since the country has been opened 
to strangers indiscriminately, the hospitality and 
kindness of the missionaries have been the praise of 
every one who has been there. Foreign mechanics 


COLONIZATION 


323 


have been employed at almost all the missions, and 
the most cordial reception experienced by all of 
them. As, however, the greatest part of the lands 
to the southward of Monterey, and along the coast, 
are in the hands of the missions, it is not to be 
expected that they could view with satisfaction 
any large number of emigrants landing in their 
territories, and which might require the cession of 
land, or interfere to disturb their peculiar system. 

But, indeed, whenever circumstances permit 
foreign emigrants to establish themselves in Upper 
California, they ought to settle to the northward and 
eastward of the Bay of San Francisco, and on the 
lands around that bay, and on the banks of the river 
Sacramento, and other streams which fall into it. 
These are the best lands, and in the best climate 
for settlers from the north of Europe. They are 
peculiarly favorable for the raising of wheat and 
other grain, and for the rearing of cattle. The 
immense tracts of fertile land not encumbered by 
forests, the facility of water intercourse by the 
country being intersected by the creeks on the Bay 
of San Francisco, and the various branches of the 
rivers which fall into it, render this situation highly 
advantageous ; and its northerly situation, and the 
general distribution of the rains throughout the year, 
make it fitter for agricultural pursuits than the 
more southerly districts. It has also the advantage 


324 


UPPER CALIFORNIA 


of being but little inhabited, and is unconnected 
with the possessions of the missionaries. 

It ought also to be a fundamental principle, in any 
plan of emigration to this country, that a sufficient 
number should go together, in order that they 
might form, at first, a society by themselves. Their 
lands should be selected as distinct from those of 
the missions and the present free towns as possible, 
so that no dispute as to territory, or on any other 
account, could ensue. For this reason, the lands on 
the Bay of San Francisco, as before recommended, 
are the most proper. In the course of time, the 
emigrants and the native settlers would become 
acquainted, and approximate. Their union would 
be the consequence, and this would tend to promote 
their mutual happiness and prosperity. But all this 
presupposes great reform to be made in the character 
of the Mexican government and its agents; for it 
must be admitted that, at present, British emi¬ 
grants would not find themselves much at ease 
under the control of the local authorities in any 
district of the republic. Nothing can be more 
different from the non-interference with private 
enterprise and private conduct which characterizes 
the British policy, than the meddling and vexatious 
interference of the military and civil authorities, 
which mixes in all the business of life in the present 
Spanish-American countries, and which is thought 


COLONIZATION 


325 


necessary to enforce the infinity of laws and regu¬ 
lations enacted for the guidance of the citizens in 
their most minute affairs. This is a never-failing 
source of annoyance and disgust, and gives perpetual 
opportunities for injustice and oppression. The 
prisons in all parts of the republic are more full 
than they ever were in the time of the Spaniards, 
and the most slight pretext is quite sufficient to 
justify an alcalde or a military officer in sending 
any one to prison, and keeping him there during 
his will and pleasure. 



APPENDIX 


I 

Remarks on the Harbors of California, with 
Directions for Navigating Them. By Captain 
John Hall. (Extract of a Letter to the Editor. ) 

***** The following particulars are extracted from 
my journal of a voyage made to the coasts of California 

in the year 1822. I give them literally as set down in my 
log-book at the time. 

La Bodega. — On the 8th of June we entered the port 
of this the most southern settlement of the Russians on the 

west coast of California. It lies in lat. 38° 19' north, and 

is only about 58 miles N. W. of San Francisco, the most 

northern of the Spanish missions on that coast. On the 
following day we were visited by the Russian governor, who 
came from the town, which is situated about 30 miles north, 

on the coast. He brought with him two fine fat sheep, a 
large tub of butter, and some milk, which were very 

acceptable after a long voyage, and gave us proof at once 
of his hospitality, and of the abundance and cheapness of 
provisions. The price of a bullock, at this time, was only 

twelve dollars, and of a fine sheep, two dollars. Vegetables 

were also plentiful in their proper season. 

To sail into this port when the winds are from the N. W. 

(and these are the prevailing winds throughout nearly the 

327 


328 HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA 


whole year, with the exception of the winter months), a 

vessel coming from the northward should pass between 
the point and the rock, as a dangerous shoal lies immediately 

off the south end of the rock. We anchored with the rock 
bearing W. by S., distant three quarters of a mile. The 
bottom is good holding-ground all throughout, being a mixture 
of clay and sand. In port, a vessel is sheltered from all 
winds but the south and S. W. The watering-place is situated 
in the small bay where the Russian storehouse stands, and 
the water is good, and easy of access. 

On the 14th of June, we sailed from La Bodega, proceed¬ 
ing southward for the adjoining Mexican port of San Francisco, 
which we entered on the 17th, having been detained on account 
of the thick, foggy weather and light winds, which caused 
us to anchor frequently. 

San Francisco. — In entering this port, which is one 
of the best and most interesting, from its security and 
magnitude, in the world, great attention must be paid to 
the tides, which, during the full and change of the moon, 
run very rapid, and, I should think, in mid-channel, at the 
rate of six miles per hour. A vessel going in would do well 
to keep in the middle of the stream, as on both sides there 
are very strong eddies, in which you are apt to lose the 
command of the helm, and consequently are obliged to 
anchor. After getting within the heads, keep Fort Blanco 
about a point on the starboard bow. Passing the fort, the 

anchorage is situated in a small bay immediately abreast 
of the Presidio , where a vessel will find good holding-ground 
in five fathoms, about a cable’s - length from the beach. 
Provisions are cheap. A bullock costs only six dollars, and 
eggs are two dollars per hundred. The harbor also abounds 


HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA 329 

with fish, which can be procured with a net, in great 
quantities. 

Monterey. — On the 20th, we weighed for Monterey, 
where we came to on the 24th, saluting the fort with five 
guns, which were returned by the same number. As a 
harbor, Monterey is extremely inferior to San Francisco. 
However, it is quite protected from the south and S. W. 

winds ; and by anchoring well under the point, a vessel 
may also be protected from the N. W., although the N. W. 
winds send in a very heavy swell. Fish here, also, is 
plentiful, as are, likewise, provisions generally, including good 
bread. 

On the 27th of the same month, we took our departure for 
Santa Barbara, where we came to an anchor on the 29th. 

Santa Barbara. — This bay is only sheltered from the 
N. W. winds, being exposed to the south and S. W. The 
anchorage is not very good, being hard sand, and over¬ 
grown with seaweed. We had such a quantity of this on 

our anchor when we hove it up, that it entirely impeded 

the ship’s progress until we got it clear. We found no 
tide nor currents, but there appeared to be a rise and fall, 
inshore, of about two feet. All kinds of provisions are cheap 
here, as also fruits, viz., grapes, pears, apples, and plums, 

in their season. 

San Pedro. — We sailed from Santa Barbara on the 

6th of July, and anchored in the Bay of San Pedro on 

the 8th, in the evening. We found the anchorage good, and 
a safe landing-place about three quarters of a mile south 

of the small rock or island marked in the chart. The 
mission of San Gabriel is about ten leagues distant from the 
landing-place, which latter is called San Pedro. This name 


330 HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA 


can be only applicable to the anchorage , as the shore, at the 

time we visited it, had no houses erected upon it, nor were 
there any cultivated grounds adjoining. 

San Juan. — On the 13th we sailed for San Juan, where 
we anchored on the following day (it being distant only 
about 30 miles), in five fathoms water. In coming into this 
bay from the north, care must be taken to give the bluff 

point a wide berth, as some dangerous rocks lie off it, 

distant about a mile or more. Here, provisions, fruits, 

vegetables, and fish are plentiful. Good wine can also be 

procured from the friars, both white wine and red, the 

latter being of a peculiarly fine flavor. 

San Diego. — On the 18th we got under weigh again, 

for the neighboring port of San Diego, where we arrived 

on the following day, anchoring in ten fathoms, about a 

mile wide of the point. We found the tide setting out at 
the rate of one and a half miles per hour. A vessel should 
always keep the north shore aboard, as we found the 
deepest water there. Grapes here are in great abundance, 
and good wine is produced from them. 

The ports of La Bodega , San Francisco , Monterey , Santa 

Barbara , San Pedro , and San Diego , are so accurately delineated 
in the chart by Mr. Arrowsmith, now before me,* that any 

further remarks would be superfluous ; and it is needless 

to dilate upon the minor ports both of Upper and Lower 
California, which, although the seats of missions , are yet 
of little mercantile importance, always, however, excepting 
the port of San Quintin, lat. 30° 23' N. 

When we arrived on the coast, the country had, only a few 


The map attached to this volume. — Ed. 


HARBORS OF CALIFORNIA 


331 


weeks before, declared itself independent of Spain. We 
were consequently received, on our entrance to every new 
port, in a hostile manner, or with great suspicion, until they 

satisfied themselves that we were not a Spanish cruiser. 

We were surprised to find a Russian establishment so far 
south as La Bodega, but the inhabitants all along the coast 
considered it as an intrusive settlement within the boundaries 
of Mexico, and threatened to drive them (the Russians) out 
whenever they should have sufficient force. By the latest 
accounts, the Russians are still there, and increasing. 

In conclusion, I would remark that California, viewed as 

a maritime station, is unrivaled by any other section of the 
western coast of America. The ports of San Francisco, 
San Diego, and San Quintin afford the most secure anchorage 
for numerous fleets, with facilities for establishing wharves, 
docks, and arsenals of all descriptions. The climate is one 
of the best and most healthy I have ever visited, and the 
country is one of the most fertile. Exclusive of Lower 
California, this country contains upwards of 430,000 square 
miles, and, allowing only fifty inhabitants to each, is capable 
of supporting a population of twenty-one millions of people. 

From its geographical position, it possesses very great advantages, 
on account of the expeditious and easy intercourse which it 
can maintain with Japan, China, the Philippine Islands, 
India, Australia, and all the islands in the Pacific. In the 
above computation of space and population, that small part of 
territory occupied by the Russians is included, as, I believe, 
neither by treaty nor by conquest can they allege any right 
to its possession. 

I am, sir, your obedient servant, 

John Hall. 

Home Cottage, Blackheath, Dec . 15, 1838. 


332 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


II 

Extract of a Letter to the Editor, on the Subject 
of Steam-Navigation in the Pacific, from a Gentle¬ 
man formerly Resident in One of the Mexican 
Ports on the Pacific 

London, Dec. 20, 1838. 

1 have taken some pains to make myself acquainted with 
the grounds on which the “ Pacific Steam Navigation Company ” 
is founded, with its proceedings as far as they have gone, 
and its prospects as far as I can comprehend them. Of 
this you may rest assured, that it has already received the 
patronage of the leading merchants trading to the Pacific, 
several of them having subscribed with the expressed 
object of forwarding an undertaking fraught with so many 
public benefits, while others have entered more largely 
into it with the view of participating in the great 
profit which it promises as an investment. The general 
result given in the 34th page of Mr. Wheelwright’s 
pamphlet, showing 466,950 dollars as the amount of 
annual receipts on four steamers, costing from 400,000 
to 450,000 dollars, and, against the same, only 236,630 
dollars of annual expenditure, whereby the company will 


IN THE PACIFIC 


333 


realize an annual profit of 230,320 dollars, or (at 4&/. 

exchange) £46,064, is so extraordinarily large that my 

first impression was to look upon the project as one 
hatched by parties connected with our Stock Exchange; 

but on turning to schedules A and C, I not only found 

that the above results were verified by a committee of 
British merchants residing in Lima, and presided over by 
Her Majesty’s consul-general for Peru, but that a note 
was added, giving reason to hope for still larger profits, 
under economical arrangements in the management of the 
items of expenditure. 

It appears that this plan, speculative though it seems, 
dates its rise from the circular officially issued by Her 
Majesty’s consul - general for Peru, dated Lima, 18th 
June, 1826, directed to British merchants and residents 
generally, requesting their attention to dispatches from 
Her Majesty’s government, promising facilities to carry 

it into effect, and requesting their active co-operation. 
No undertaking, therefore, could originate under more 

respectable auspices, and, from inquiries I have made, I 
have no hesitation in stating that the gentlemen who have 
taken it up in London are of the utmost respectability, and 
influenced by the most honorable motives. 

The author of “California” has not expressed himself 

in favor of the extension of this proposed line from Panama 
to the northern Pacific, further than as the reader may 
construe his remarks in pages 315 to 320. But I feel 

confident, after viewing the success of steam in the Arabian 
Gulf and Red Sea, in the Mediterranean, and backwards 
and forwards to England, at all seasons of the year, and, 
above all, in so many safe and expeditious voyages across 


334 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


the Atlantic, that the day is not far distant when either the 
directors of the present Pacific Steam Navigation Company, 

or some new company, will take up the northern line. 

The numerous population along the western coasts of 
Central America and Mexico, and the rich products of the 
adjoining provinces in gold, silver, pearls, cochineal, and 

indigo, ought to afford profitable employment for steamers 
as far up as the Gulf of California, at least ; and were 
emigration ever turning its tide to California in the way 
suggested by the author, from page 320 to the end, whether 

under the direction of Her Majesty’s government, or of 
a public company, the aid of steam could not fail to be 
required. 

Under the strongest presentiment that these ideas will 
not lie many years inoperative, I have made calculations of 
the distances from Panama to the principal northern ports, 
which I here subjoin as not without importance in the 

present inquiry. These calculations do not pretend to be 
exact to a mile or to an hour, but they are sufficiently so 

for our purpose. Nine miles are allowed per hour. 

The distances from Panama to San Diego, Monterey, 

San Francisco, Bodega, and Columbia River, are given in two 
ways. First, by the line of coast, via Mazatlan ; and second, 

from Panama direct. 


Table of Distances and Hours’ Steaming from PANAMA to 
the Following Ports ; viz. 


From Panama to — 
The Gulf of Nicoya . 
The Gulf of Papagayo 
Realejo. 


Miles Hours 

435 48 

590 65.30 

680 75.30 





IN THE PACIFIC 


From Panama to — 

Sonsonate. 

Y ztapa. 

Socunusco . 

Tehuantepec. 

Acapulco. 

Navi dad. 

San Bias. 

Mazatlan. 

Guaymas. 

Rio Gila, where it joins the Colorado. 

San Diego — 

Via Mazatlan. 

Direct from Panama. 

Monterey — 

Via Mazatlan.. 

Direct. 

San Francisco — 

Via Mazatlan. 

Direct. 

Russian settlement at Port Bodega — 

Via Mazatlan. 

Direct. 

The British settlement at Columbia River — 

Via Mazatlan. 

Direct. 

Bering’s Straits, via Columbia River. 

Woahoo, [Oahu,] Sandwich Islands. 

St. Peter and Paul, [Petropavlovsk,] Kamchatka, via Woahoo 
Jedo, [or Jeddo, or Yeddo, ( = Tokio),] in Japan, via 

Woahoo [Oahu]. 

Canton, via Woahoo [Oahu]. 


335 


Miles 

Hours 

847 

94 

937 

104 

1,095 

121.30 

1,210 

134.30 

1,495 

166 

1,810 

201 

1,962 

218 

2,091 

232 

2,448 

272 

2,793 

310 

3,016 

335 

2,760 

306.30 

3,376 

375 

3,120 

346.30 

3,456 

384 

3,200 

355.30 

3,514 

390.30 

3,258 

362 

4,034 

448 

3,570 

385.30 

5,970 

663 

4,620 

513 

7,380 

820 

7,950 

883 

9,540 

1,060 


In the above table, the distance to Bering’s Straits and 
the ports that follow is given to satisfy the reader’s curiosity, 
and not with a view to any practical utility in the way of 
steam - navigation, unless greatly improved and cheapened. 
It is not impossible that chemists may discover some new 
power equal to steam, and producible at less expense, or 
that our engineers may invent some mechanical mode of 

























336 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


propulsion for vessels, rendering the Isthmus of Panama the 
most direct and expeditious route, not only to these ports, 
but to Manila and the whole Eastern archipelago. 

It will be seen from this table that the British settlement * 

on the Columbia River might be reached from Panama, by 
steam, in nineteen days, or, say, about forty days from Eng¬ 

land. By the same route, the important port of San Fran¬ 
cisco might be reached in sixteen days from Panama, or 
thirty-six from England, and the Russian settlement of La 
Bodega in about six hours longer time. What a change 
in our communications, when the nearest Russian settle¬ 
ment on the west coast of America will be brought within 

thirty-six days and six hours’ steaming from our own shores; 
when even St. Peter and St. Paul [Petropavlovsk], in Kam¬ 
chatka, will be within fifty days’ steaming; Yedo [Tokio], 

within fifty-seven ; Canton, within sixty-four ; and Woahoo 

[Oahu], in the Sandwich Islands, within forty-two days ! 
Such are the wonderful results that, sooner or later, may be 
expected from the mere power of steam (improved and cheap¬ 
ened, as it may be, by fresh discoveries), and the resumption of 
the old line of communication between Europe and the Pacific, 
via Chagres and Panama. 

I here use the word resumption deliberately; for, from the 
era of Columbus ( 1502 ) down to 1824, that line was 

the high road between Spain and her colonies along the 

west coast, not only for Spanish settlers and merchants, but 
for whole cargoes of goods, and regiments of soldiers. The 
famous Vasco Nunez de Balboa, so early as 1513, crossed the 
isthmus, with troops, from his settlement of Santa Maria del 
Darien, to the Gulf of San Miguel, S. E. of Panama; and the 

* I call it British , believing we have not yet relinquished its northern hank . 


IN THE PACIFIC 


337 


latter, eleven years afterwards, viz., in 1524, had already become 
a city of sufficient importance to have a governor, and to furnish 
to Irancisco Pizarro, Diego Almagro, and Fernando Luque 
the men, arms, and ships with which they proceeded to 
the conquest of Peru. Soon afterwards, it became the seat 
of a royal “ audiencia,” and, until the suppression of the 
Spanish galleons, and the opening of the free trade, was 
the grand emporium of all the merchandise, from Spain, 
destined for the southern coast of New Granada and Peru, 
and the northern ports of Guatemala. During the late war 
of independence in Peru, several regiments from Spain 
were sent up the Chagres to Panama, and from thence by 

transports to Peru; and it was by the same course that Cruz 
Mourgeon, the last vice-king appointed by Spain for New 
Granada, passed with his forces in 1822. The history of 

the buccaneers proves that as early as the days of Queen 

Elizabeth our own piratical countrymen, and other lawless 
inhabitants of the West Indies, were quite familiar with this 
route, which they passed and repassed at pleasure; and until 
the trade with the Pacific by Cape Horn became open to 

our own merchants, they supplied the wants of the Spanish 
colonists on the Pacific coasts, through Jamaica, by the same 
channel. It is therefore clear that, in resuming that old 
line of communication without either the aid of railroad 
or canal (though doubtless either of these would greatly 
facilitate the transport of passengers and goods), the Pacific 
Steam Navigation Company makes no new nor dangerous 
experiment. A British merchant, then sailing on board 
the vessel whose course is given in the map attached to the 
present work, so recently as 1824 took on board, in Panama, 

and carried to San Bias, a thousand bales of goods, bought 

22 Z 


338 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


and packed in Jamaica, and which had been conveyed across 
the isthmus by the way indicated. The expenses on each 
bale placed in Panama were seven dollars three riales, and 
consisted of the following items; viz.,— 


Dol. Rial. 

Freight on each bale, from Jamaica to Chagres.2 0 

Agency at Chagres.0 4 

Freight, per canoe, from Chagres to Cruces.1 5 

Duty of deposit, in Cruces.0 4 

Agency.0 2 

Mule-hire, from Cruces to Panama (7 leagues).2 4 


In all.7 3 


on each bale of about 150 lbs. weight. The canoes on the 
Chagres are large enough to take eighty of these bales at 
once; have “toldos” (a kind of awning, made of cane and 

palm-leaves, impervious to the sun and rain), are quite safe, 
and managed with great adroitness by negro watermen 

remarkable for their size and strength. 

It would require some nicety of calculation to enable me 
to institute an exact comparison between these charges and 

those on the same goods carried round by Cape Horn. 

I am inclined to think that on goods outwards the latter 
would be the cheapest route ; but on lace, fine linens, silks, 
and jewelry, the additional expense could not be sensibly 
felt; and where the object is to be first in a market, in the 
time of war to save risk, and at all times to save interest of 
money, the Panama and Chagres route, even as it was in 1824 
and is now, must be the preferable one, both as regards 
the above description of goods outwards, and bullion, specie, 
cochineal, and indigo homewards. 

Note to Page 339 [a printed slip attached thereto, in original edition].— The writer regrets that he mis¬ 
understood the conversation held with his good friend Mr. Clarke, so far as his Having taken goods -with him from 
Jamaica to Panama. His meaning was, that he had made six trips between Jamaica and Panama with mercantile 
objects, but not that he took goods with him, his house, like all others in Jamaica, of pure agency, being merely 
the sellers of the goods that the Panama merchants took across on their own account, and for which they remitted 
in bullion and specie, without experiencing difficulty, danger, loss, or outrage of any kind. 










IN THE PACIFIC 


339 


Besides the seven dollars three riales above mentioned, I 
may state that in 1824 the transit duties levied in Panama 
were three dollars two riales on each bale; but, by a late 

decree of the government of New Granada, all the transit 
duties have been abolished, so that, perhaps, at this moment 
the whole charges may not exceed six dollars per bale from 

Jamaica to Panama. I lately conversed with an intelligent 
Havana merchant, — D. R. Clarke, Esq.,— now in London, 
who has been six voyages with goods from Jamaica (backwards 
and forwards) to Panama. [*] He never incurred the smallest 
loss or risk, either from the river, the road, the natives, or 
the climate; but, to avoid delay, he thinks that a tram-railroad,* 
either from the junction of the Trinidad with the Chagres 
to Panama, or from Porto Bello to Panama, would be of great 
use, easily made, and cheaply supported. Perhaps the former 
would be preferable, on account of the dangerous fevers which 
prevail in Porto Bello, but not on the Chagres. 

The above remarks are made, assuming that Her Majesty’s 

government establishes a line of steamers through the West 
Indies as far as to Chagres, and that the Pacific Steam 
Navigation Company take the passengers and goods up at 
Panama, in the Pacific, carrying them thence, on their way 

south and north, without delay ; for if the reader will 
refer to the map, he will find that the vessel whose course 
is there traced (a fast sailing schooner of the class known 

under the designation of “clipper”) took thirty-two days 
in sailing from Panama to San Bias, — a voyage which, by a 

steamer proceeding direct, might be accomplished in nine 
days. A dull sailing vessel would have taken perhaps sixty 

[*See ante> p. 338, for note printed on slip inserted in original edition. — Pub.] 

* I mean a road with rails, where the carriages and wagons are dragged 
by horses and mules, both of which abound and are cheap in the isthmus. 


340 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


days or more to perform the same voyage, from the extreme 
difficulty of sailing out to the westward from Panama Bay, 
in consequence of calms, alternating with squalls from all 
directions, and the struggle she would have to maintain, in 
proceeding along the coasts of Central America and Mexico, 
against opposing winds and currents. The same “clipper” 
(though to go eleven and eleven and a half knots per hour 
was not unusual with her) took twelve days on her voyage 
from Valparaiso, in sailing from the equator to Panama. 
I mention these apparently uninteresting minutiae to establish 
the important fact, that even were such a canal made as the 
author of “California” recommends (page 319), without 
steamers ready at Panama (as the Pacific Steam Navigation 
Company proposes to have them) to carry on, at once, goods 
and passengers northwards and southwards, little advantage 
would be gained as regards ports to the southward of Payta, 
or northward of Manzanilla, on the coast of Mexico. The 
saving of time would not be very great, and the expense, 
allowing for tolls on the canal , would, I fear, not be much 
less than by the voyage round Cape Horn. 

I do not think that steamers from Panama northwards would 
pay the owners farther than San Bias or Mazatlan. Were, 
indeed, the tide of emigration setting strongly to California 
or the settlements on the Columbia Rivef, occasional trips 
might be made, so far , profitably; but as for Woahoo [Oahu], 
Jeddo \or Yeddo=Tokio], Canton, and other places named 
in the calculations above given, steamers from Panama to 
them will never pay, until, in the progress of discovery, the 
expenses of steamers are brought down more nearly to a 
level with those of sailing vessels. If ever this desirable 
event be realized, the ideas here thrown out will assume a 


IN THE PACIFIC 


341 


practical importance, and it will behoove Great Britain, as 

queen of the sea, to maintain by steam the same naval character 
which she has earned by canvas. The Isthmus of Panama 
will then become a point of very great importance. 

The author of California (page 317) hints the possibility 

that the isthmus might be ceded to some European state. If 

it ever should be so ceded, the nation holding it will acquire 
an immense influence and power over the communications 
of the world (supposing the above improvements in steam), 
with a territory well wooded, well watered, fertile in the 

extreme, rich in gold and pearl-fisheries, capable of supporting 

a numerous population, and not, by any means, generally 
unhealthy; while the inhabitants will acquire that wealth 

and prosperity which the advantages of their situation 
secure to them. But, even allowing — as is most probable — 
that New Granada will continue to retain its sovereignty 
over the isthmus, there is nothing in the history or 
character of that republic which can justify our fears that 
it will not religiously maintain its stipulations in favor of 
the route across to Panama. Of all the South American 

republics, New Granada has shown the greatest respect to 
public faith; and the Hurtados, the Arossamenas, the Gomezes, 
the Quezadas, the Paredeses, and other respectable inhabitants 

of Panama, are too much alive to the continuance and 
improvement of the old overland intercourse , whereby their 
city has flourished, not to protest against any injurious 

imposts or prejudicial interference. I believe that, hitherto, 
no passenger, nor merchant traveling across to Panama, 
can justly complain of any outrage, either to his person 

or property, from either the local authorities or from 
individuals. They are all aware that nothing short of the 


342 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


resumption of the old line of communication between Europe 
and the Pacific can restore their former prosperity and develop 
the latent resources of their beautiful country, and they are 
prepared to make every exertion to secure so desirable an 
object. 

Had the line of steamers above suggested been now in 

operation, it is obvious that the present French blockade of 
the Atlantic ports of Mexico could have been counteracted 
by sending the cargoes of vessels warned off, to Chagres, 

across to Panama, and thence to the Mexican ports of the 
Pacific. 

In conclusion, I may state that I understand proposals for 

steam-navigation on the Atlantic ports have been submitted 
to the Mexican government by a firm of great standing in 

that country and in London, and that a favorable answer is 
expected by the first packet. 


IN THE PACIFIC 


343 


III 


EXTRACTS 


1 


PANAMA and the PACIFIC. A Memorandum Sent to the 
Foreign Office, on the Advantage of Using the Isthmus of 
Panama as a More Rapid Means of Communication between 
Europe and the Ports of the Pacific Ocean. By the Hon. 

P. Campbell Scarlett 

In passing, within the last few months, down the coast of South 
America, on the Pacific side, from Valparaiso, through Lima, to 
Payta, in the neighborhood of Guayaquil, and to Panama, and 
from thence to the Atlantic Ocean, across the Isthmus of Darien, 

I had occasion to observe the truth of representations frequently made 
to me by British merchants in those settlements, how much shorter 
and more certain might be the communication of intelligence from 
those places to England by that route, than by the passage round 
Cape Horn. That passage, in merchant vessels, to and from England 
direct, averages — 


Days 


For Valparaiso 


100 

110 

120 


Lima . 
Guayaquil 


— a length of time which is not only inconvenient for commercial 
objects, but which, in some degree, cuts off the British settler 
from correspondence with his friends and family, and unnecessarily 





344 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


prolongs the period of receiving such intelligence as the British 
consuls in those quarters may find it expedient to convey to the 
government, whereas the passage by Panama might with ease be 
effected in the following periods : — 

Days 


From Valparaiso.62 

Lima.51 

Guayaquil.46 


as the following details will show: — 


From Valparaiso to Lima.11 

Lima to Payta or Guayaquil.. . 5 

Payta to Panama.10 

Across the isthmus.1 

Thence to England, touching at one of the Windward Islands.35 

Making, in the whole.62* 


Taking Lima as a central position, by this calculation it appears 
that the difference of time in conveying correspondence from the 
western coast of South America to England may be thus stated : -— 

Days 


From Lima, by Cape Horn.110 

Lima, by Panama.51 


Difference of time in favor of the route by the West Indies . . 59 

The passage from Panama to Chagres is perfectly easy, being 
only twenty-one miles by land, and the remainder by a river safe 
and navigable for boats and canoes. This was the route by which 
the several towns and provinces on the Pacific Ocean made their 
communications with Europe before the separation of the colonies 
from Spain; but the frequent revolutions which have taken place in 
South America, and the consequent poverty and want of enterprise 
in the Spanish part of the population, seem to have put a stop to the 
regular and periodical communications between these places, which 
were formerly established by public authority. 


* This is unnecessarily long. The journey, by way of the isthmus, has been 
accomplished, from Lima to Liverpool, in 46 days. 













IN THE PACIFIC 


345 


This communication might be very easily effected by the addition 
of a few small, fast-sailing vessels of war, or steamers, which should 
make periodical visits to the towns I have mentioned. 

The advantage of a direct communication between Panama and 
the West Indies has already been felt and obtained by the practice 
of the admiral on the West India station, who is accustomed to 
dispatch a sailing vessel of war, at stated periods, to Chagres, in 
order to bring official and other correspondence, as well as specie, 
from the Pacific coast of South America. 

I am the more induced to make these representations, from a 
conversation I had with Commodore Mason, in which he expressed 
his concern that he had not adequate force under his control to give 
protection to British commerce on the South American shore of the 
Pacific, and his confidence in the opinion, which has been much 
confirmed by my own observation, as well as by the report of others, 
more competent than myself, that such commerce has a tendency to 
increase if duly protected, and that if vessels of war were more fre¬ 
quently enabled to visit the various ports on the coast from Valparaiso 
to Panama, better security would be afforded to the British merchants 
against the revolutions, to which the property of all persons resident 
on those shores is so often exposed, from the feebleness of the gov¬ 
ernments, and the successive changes which are the consequence of 
that weakness. 

The establishment of steamboats would render the return of 
correspondence, against the prevailing southerly winds, of equal 
rapidity. The trade-winds are not violent in that sea, and men-of- 
war, in particular, have generally made passages down the coast 
with great dispatch. However, the introduction of steam-navigation 
in the West Indies having already shown that merchant sailing vessels 
are disposed to carry sufficient coal in ballast for the supply of fuel, 
it is equally obvious that the same facilities might be afforded to 
carry out coal to the Pacific coast until such time as, from its raised 
value and the increased demand for it, the inhabitants of those regions 
may think it worth their while to work the veins of coal which are 
well known to exist at various places on the western coast. * 

London, Sept. 6 , 1835. 


[Scarlett:] South America and the Pacific. London, 1838. Vol. ii, p. 281. 


346 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


II 

Extract from “Statements and Documents Relative to the 
Establishment of Steam - Navigation in the Pacific.” By 
William Wheelwright, Esq. 

The establishment of steam-navigation along the shores of the 
Pacific Ocean, in connection with the passage of the Isthmus of 
Panama to the Atlantic, has long excited much interest, and this 
has been more strongly manifested as the commerce and intercourse 
with those countries have increased. 

In consequence of instructions from the British government, 
addressed to the British consuls-general in Chile and Peru, directing 
them to inquire into the best means of establishing a communication 
between Great Britain and the western coasts of South America, 
by way of the isthmus, public meetings of the British and foreign 
merchants were convened for this object. At these meetings in 
Chile and Peru, the consuls-general presided, and committees were 
appointed to examine my plans and statements, which, after the 
fullest investigation, were unanimously approved of, and sanctioned 
at subsequent general meetings. 

The subject of steam-navigation in the Pacific has occupied 

my attention for the last four years; and that I have carefully 
considered it, the extent and minuteness of my calculations will, I 
trust, prove. The feasibility of the proposed plan, and the authen¬ 
ticity of the facts upon which I have based my expectations of 
success, have been established by the reports of the committees 
appointed to inquire into them ; and large as the anticipated profits 

of this undertaking may appear to those not intimately acquainted 

with the local peculiarities of the Pacific states, I will nevertheless 
assume that the correctness of my statements will be generally 
admitted, supported as they are by the evidence of disinterested par¬ 
ties, whose probity, as well as practical knowledge of the subject, is 
the best assurance that my data have been fully and fairly examined. 

Her Majesty’s government, considering the advantages that 

must accrue to the trade of this country with the Pacific, and 
to commerce in general, by the establishment of. a more prompt 
communication, has deemed the undertaking entitled to its support, 
and conferred on the Pacific Steam Navigation Company a royal 


IN THE PACIFIC 


347 


charter; and as these advantages will be common to all nations, 
it is only reasonable to look for the friendly disposition of other 
governments. 

The governments of the Pacific states, equally impressed with 
the benefits that must result from the establishment of a rapid 
communication along their shores, as tending to increase their 
commerce and improve the political and moral condition of society, 
have materially assisted in furthering this object by granting to the 
undertaking, for a term of years, exclusive and valuable privileges 
for the navigation of their coasts. 

It will be seen by the prospectus that Her Majesty’s government 
has determined on the early establishment of steam-packets to the 
West Indies, which, with the co-operation of steam-navigation in 
the Pacific, will reduce the communication between Great Britain 
and the coasts of Peru and Chile from a period of four months to 
one of thirty or forty days. 

This accelerated and easy communication must naturally tend to 
an increased intercourse and a more extended trade with the west 
coast of South America. The uncertainty and fluctuations which 
at present attend all mercantile operations with those now distant 
markets will, in a great degree, be obviated by the means of trans¬ 
mitting frequent and regular advice, while the returns for shipments 
will be available three or four months earlier than they are under 
present circumstances. 

Specie and bullion are constantly remitted, and that with ease 
and security, by the Isthmus of Panama. The means of transporting 
goods are likewise abundant, and the whole have been exempted 
from transit duty by a late decree of the congress of New Granada. 
The directors, being satisfied that whatever tends to facilitate the 
commerce of the west coast must materially benefit the company, 
have in contemplation a plan for insuring all property shipped in 
their vessels, if it be desired, by which means bills of lading will 
at once become available and transferable documents. Thus the 
proposed undertaking is of the greatest importance to the merchant 
and manufacturer whose commercial operations are directed to the 
Pacific. Their property will be placed more within their own control, 
and on a footing of greater security, while the facilities extended to 
trade cannot fail to give it a new impulse, to increase its importance, 
and eventually to produce a greater demand for British manufactures. 


348 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


The local trade, also, would derive great advantages from an 
accelerated communication between the several ports in the Pacific. 
Owing to the present irregularity of advices, vessels are often indefi¬ 
nitely detained at the different ports of the coast; and from the 
same cause no changes in markets can be beneficially and mutually 
acted upon. By steam, a regular interchange of advices would be 
established every fifteen days, and many voyages would be performed 
in forty or fifty hours, which now occupy twenty or twenty-five 
days. 

There are other interests in South America, of too important a 
character to be lost sight of, and which must reap the benefit of any 
measure that tends to the development and improvement of the re¬ 
sources of that country. To the different states, loans to the amount 
of millions of British capital have been made, for which no return 
has been received, nor, till an amelioration of their domestic and 
international affairs be brought about, can any such be expected. 
One great cause of the political instability of the South American 
governments is the absence of prompt communication, by which the 
efforts of the executive to suppress rebellion are constantly frustrated. 
The difficulties of journeys by land, and the uncertainty of voyages 
by sailing vessels, impede that regular and rapid intercourse which 
steam-navigation alone can supply, — an intercourse essential to the 
well-being and advancement of those countries. The effect of it 
would be to strengthen the executive authorities, to promote the 
industry of the people, and to contribute to an improved state of 
public and private credit. 

The accompanying letter of Captain P'itz Roy, of Her Majesty’s 
navy, corroborates also a very important fact as regards the accel¬ 
erated and easy communication which can be effected between the 
Pacific coast, Australia, New Zealand, and the various islands in 
that ocean. By traversing the Isthmus of Darien, the long and 
turbulent passage round Cape Horn would be avoided, and the 
period of four months, now occupied in performing the voyage from 
Europe to those distant parts of the world, would be reduced to 
about sixty or seventy days. This is an interesting point as relates 
to the civilization of the inhabitants of the numerous islands of the 
Pacific, to which the missionary societies have for a considerable 
time past been directing much of their attention. A tedious and 
painful voyage will be exchanged for one of comparative ease, and 


IN THE PACIFIC 


349 


the difficulty of access, which now so much obstructs their labors, 
will be greatly diminished. 

While the important and interesting colony of Australia will be 
so greatly benefited by the establishment of steam-navigation in 
the Pacific, its influence over the immediate as well as the more 
remote sections of the British empire must not be overlooked. The 
island of Jamaica will once more become an entrepot of supplies for 
the northern ports of the Pacific, and, to a great extent, be enabled 
to resume that lucrative trade by which her prosperity was formerly 
so much promoted. 

There is no difficulty in crossing the Isthmus of Panama. The 
journey from the Pacific to the Atlantic is easily effected in eighteen 
hours, while the return occupies two days. By the proposed line of 
road from Panama to the junction of the rivers Trinidad and 
Chagres, to which point steamers of from four to five hundred tons 
may navigate without difficulty, the whole journey across could be 
accomplished in eight or ten hours. 

Having, in the course of the preceding observations, endeavored 
to prove the great benefits which must accrue from the establishment 
of steam-navigation on the waters of the Pacific, I have now to 
show that the means and facilities for carrying it into operation 
are amply sufficient. 

Coal exists in Chile in great abundance, and is obtainable at a 
very cheap rate ; it may also be had from England at a moderate 
price ; while the nature of the trade between the west coast and 
Australia would insure an abundant and cheap supply from that 
colony in case of need. 

The increasing trade of England with the west coast is the best 
proof of the security which is there afforded to commerce. If the 
merchant and manufacturer whose goods are often deposited for 
lengthened periods in the public custom-houses, and frequently sent 
to the interior on long credits, enjoy a security which enables them 
to repeat and gradually to increase their shipments, how much 
greater security will be afforded to the company, whose vessels will 
sail under the British flag, be under the protection of a British 
squadron, and possess the special guaranty of the separate local 
governments. 

The means of repairing vessels are abundant. Guayaquil is an 
excellent arsenal, and particularly favorable for the repair of steam- 


350 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


vessels, while some of the ports of Chile offer, in this respect, almost 
equal advantages. 

In conclusion, I may be allowed to state that a broader or more 
promising field for steam operations than that which the Pacific 
affords does not exist in any part of the world. The prevailing south 
winds, the calms, and the currents of that ocean render navigation 
by sailing vessels tedious and uncertain in the extreme, while 
the nature of the whole country, from Valparaiso to Guayaquil,— 
presenting a succession of mountains and deep ravines intersected by 
sandy deserts, — offers every imaginable obstacle to land-traveling; 
and yet there are four millions of inhabitants, within the proposed 
line of intercourse, ready to participate, to a greater or less degree, 
in the benefits to arise from the proposed undertaking. 

Nature thus seems to have intended for steam-navigation that 
great line of coast, the physical difficulties of which oppose an almost 
insurmountable barrier to any other mode of prompt communication. 

William Wheelwright. 

London, Oct. 22, 1838. 


Letter from Captain Fitz Roy, Referred to in the Preceding 
Observations 

31, Chester Street, Oct. 1, 1838. 

Dear Sir , — In answer to the questions contained in your letter of 
the 25th of September, I send the following brief remarks. 

With respect to the general project, I have no doubt whatever 
of its utility, or of the facility with which it may be carried into 
execution. 

The principal advantages which it holds out to the public are, 
a very important saving of time in communicating with Peru and 
Chile, together with a regularity of intercourse, which cannot fail to 
cause a vast augmentation of trade, as well as a material improvement 
in the state of those countries. 

Among the facilities ofFered for its successful accomplishment are, 
a sufficient supply of fuel, smooth sea, a regular trade-wind, and a 
great number of safe ports extremely easy of access. 


IN THE PACIFIC 


351 


So far as I am competent to give an opinion of your statements 
relative to the intercourse which might be effected between Great 
Britain and Australia by a western route, I agree fully to what you 
have stated. Indeed, I cannot help expressing my admiration of the 
patience and candor by which you seem to have been actuated 
during the four years you have devoted to the preparations for this 
great undertaking. 

In my own mind, there is no doubt whatever of the existence of 
coal in abundance at various places on the western coasts of South 
America, and that its quality is sufficiently good to make it available 
for steam-vessels. 

I have the honor to be, 

Dear sir, 

Your obedient servant, 

Robert Fitz Roy. 

William Wheelwright, Esq., London. 


Ill 

Extract from the Prospectus of the “ Pacific Steam Navigation 
Company,” to be Incorporated by Royal Charter. Capital, 
£250,000, in 5,000 Shares of £50 Each. Issued November 5, 

1838 

The object of this company is to establish steam-navigation along 
the shores of the Pacific, from Valparaiso to Panama, embracing 
all the principal ports in Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, and the 
west coast of New Granada, and, in conjunction with Her Majesty’s 
packets in the Atlantic, to promote a more rapid and regular commu¬ 
nication with Europe by the Isthmus of Darien. 

The undertaking was projected by Mr. Wheelwright, and sanc¬ 
tioned at public meetings of the British and foreign merchants in 
Chile and Peru, convened and presided over by Her Majesty’s 
consuls-general at the express desire of Her Majesty’s government, 
to consider the best means of establishing a direct communication 
between England and the Pacific. The statements and calculations 


352 


ON STEAM-NAVIGATION 


of Mr. Wheelwright, exhibiting the most satisfactory pecuniary 
results, underwent a most minute and searching investigation by 
committees appointed for the purpose, and at a subsequent general 
meeting they were unanimously approved of. Mr. Wheelwright has 
obtained decrees from the governments of Chile, Bolivia, and Peru, 
securing to him and his assigns the exclusive navigation of the coasts 
by steam, with all necessary immunities and privileges (including an 
exemption from port dues), for the period of ten years. These 
decrees, and the powers conferred thereby, have become the property 
of the company. Her Majesty’s government also, actuated by 
a sense of the benefits which will be conferred by this undertaking 
upon British commerce, has consented to grant the company a royal 
charter, by which alone the important objects of the company can be 
effectually attained. 

Although the nominal capital for this undertaking is stated at 
^250,000, it is calculated that less than one half of this amount will 
be sufficient to carry into full effect the operations of the company. 

Mr. Wheelwright, now in this country, will return to South 
America as soon as the necessary arrangements are completed, for 
the purpose of superintending the company’s concerns, in conjunction 
with such mercantile firms as may be appointed to act under the 
control of the directors. 

W. P. Robertson, Secretary. 

London. 


[Imprint, Original Edition] 

Cfjtcfjcfiter : Printed by William Hayley Mason 


INDEX 


EXPLANATORY of the INDEX 

The intelligent reader will require but little explanation to get the best results from 
the following index. Perhaps the principal matter to which attention should be 
called is the names of the missions, which are grouped together therein in alpha¬ 
betical order, with the Spanish word Mision preceding each name (<vide post , pp. 
364-365). As said in the Publisher’s Foreword to this new edition, Forbes did 
not, in the text , mention each and every mission; hence, for lists of the missions, 
the tables on pages 201, 202, 259-260, 265-266, must be referred to. 

The reader will note, after finding the desired entry, and upon referring to the 
text-page, that sometimes more is stated in the index than is warranted by the text. 
Thus after the name of a padre, “ S.J.” or “ O. F. ” will be found after such name. 
These indicate the order of the padre,—Jesuit or Franciscan,— and are helpful in 
other ways. This given instance should show the purpose of the others. 

Sometimes the entry may seem like that in an index-digest. Thus in the entry 
“California, Upper,” p. 357, it is stated that Drake was on the coast in 1579, and 
Gali in 1584, while the text-page gives these dates as 1578 and 1582, respectively. 
The best authorities, although their pages indicate that they have “troubles of their 
own,” are agreed on these dates as given in this index. The other matters “read 
into ’ ’ the index will, it is hoped, be apparent to the reader. 

The index to a book is not generally so accurate as the text, and notwithstand¬ 
ing what has previously been said, all presumptions should favor the text. It must 
be remembered always that the text of this new edition is not edited, the principal 
changes made being in the emendation of proper names, of orthography generally, 
of the division of words, of matters typographical, the last mentioned covering an 
infinitude of detail making for the “finish” of the printed page without mutilating 
the text. 


354 


INDEX 


Acapulco, pearl-fishery near, 65. 

Acosta, Jose de, cited, pearls imported 
into Seville, 65. 

Adobes, unburnt bricks, 203. See also 
Presidios. 

Agriculture, backward and unprogress¬ 
ive, chiefly in hands of padres, 246 5 
Indian com, wheat, barley, frijoles, 
chiefly cultivated, 247; plowing, and 
peculiar mode of yoking oxen, 248- 
252; sowing etc. of cereals, 253 etseq. 
See also Cattle, Grain, Oxen, Pota¬ 
toes, Vegetables, etc. 

Alaman, Lucas, Mexican Secretary of 
Relations, favorable to missions, 138. 

Alcabala (excise; duty on all sales). 
See Customs Duties. 

Am erican hunters, traders, trappers, etc., 
daring of, and compared with Hispano- 
Californians, 155. See also United 
States. 

American merchants in Spanish Amer¬ 
ica open trade with California after 
Mexican revolution, 282 ; export 
cattle from California to Hawaiian 
Islands, 283. See also Commerce. 

Amole, a root eaten by the Indians, a 
variety of which is saponaceous, 189. 

Anza, Juan Bautista, comandante at Tu- 
bac, Sonora, leaves there in command 
of expedition to establish communica¬ 
tion by land with Upper California, ar¬ 
rives at Monterey, 114; meets Serra 
later while pursuing his object, reports 
feasibility thereof, and informs him of 
privations at Monterey, 115. See also 
Bucareli. 

Argali (a wild goat), 9. See also Be- 
rendo. 

Arteaga, Ignacio, commands expedition 
supposed to be to discover passage to 
North Atlantic, accomplishes little, 


and, ignorantly dreading the equinox, 
heads for port of San Francisco, 117— 
119. See also Perez, Princesa. 

Asia, how islands of Pacific could have 
been peopled from, 301. See also 
Panama. 

Asses. See Cattle. 

Atole, cooked Indian corn, a food of 
the mission Indians, 57. 

Atondo (or Otondo) y Antillon, Isidro, 
with padres, attempts settlement of 
Lower California, 12, 13. See also 
Kino. 

Balsa (a rude Indian raft of tule), 191. 
Basaldua, Juan Manuel, S. J., in charge 
of mission of San Francisco Xavier at 
time of Indian uprising, 38. 

Basketry, Indian, 192. 

Beans, frijoles, universally eaten, how 
cooked, 247. See also Grain. 
Beechey, Frederick William, visits Cali¬ 
fornia in 1826, 1827, 80, 135; his 
Voyage to the Pacific cited passim; 
liberation of the Indians at the mis¬ 
sions, and effect of, 135, 136; tem¬ 
perature of San Francisco, 165; sea 
and shell fish, 179; stature, of Alche- 
domas and Tularenos, 181; skill of 
Indians in imitating deer, and in 
catching water-fowl, 193; temescal, 
or hot-air bath, 197; how Indians 
inveigled or forced into missions, 215, 
216; religious tuition by blind In¬ 
dian at mission, 216, 217. 

Berendo, or taye, argali (Onjis pygargus 
of Cuvier), 9, 91, 175. 

Bestias , degrading epithet applied to 
wild Indians, 185. See also Gente de 
razon. 

Bezerra de Mendoza, Diego, accompa¬ 
nies Grijalva in expedition fitted out 
355 


356 


INDEX 


by Cortes, and is killed in mutiny, 7. 
See also Ximenez. 

Bodega, La, Russian settlement at, 1; 
sterility of that part of California, 270; 
dairy products of Russians at, 271; 
British ship at, 270, 327; hospitality 
of Russians at, 327; harbor described, 
and sailing directions, 327, 328, 330; 
settlement regarded as intrusive within 
the boundaries of Mexico, 331. 

Bodega y Quadra, Juan Francisco, com¬ 
mander of the schooner (Sonora) ac¬ 
companying the Santiago on her second 
northern voyage, 116. See also Perez. 

Bows and arrows, Indian, 18; neatly 
wrought, bows of good shape, and 
arrows with points of obsidian or flint, 
192. See also Beechey, Indians. 

Branciforte, pueblo or town of, popula¬ 
tion of, 202; location, inhabitants, 
government, etc., 208. See also Cat¬ 
tle, Grain. 

Brick-making (adobe), 33. 

Bucareli y Ursua, Antonio Maria, Vice¬ 
roy of Mexico, resolves to abandon 
port of San Bias, but dissuaded by 
Serra, 113; orders completion of 
frigate there (the San Antonio), to 
explore coast of Upper California, and 
orders packet-boat (the San Carlos), 
with supplies for the missions, sent to 
Monterey, 113; orders expedition 
under Anza, comandante at Tubac, 
to proceed by the Gila and Colorado 
to establish communication by land, 
114; orders frigate Princesa built at 
San Bias, and purchases the Favorita, 
for another expedition by sea, 117. 

Bucareli, Strait of, discovered by Arte¬ 
aga, 117. See also Princesa. 

Building material, stone, slabs, brick- 
clay, 173. See also Adobes. 

Bustamante, Anastasio, President of 
Mexico, favorably disposed toward 
missions in California, 138. 

Butter and cheese, peculiar Spanish and 
Hispano-Califomian methods and re¬ 
sults in making, and supposed origin 
thereof, 266-271. See also Dairy, 
Russians. 


Cabrillo, Juan RodrIguez, explores 
coast of California in 1542-43, 9, 10; 
discovers Upper California in 1542, 79. 

Caledonian Canal, an undertaking not 
inferior to that involved at Panama, 
and its plan of construction recom¬ 
mended, 320. 

“California,” name, formerly applied 
exclusively to Old or Lower (or An¬ 
tigua or Baja) California, 2. 

California, Lower, 1-3; discovery of, by 
Ximenez, in 1534, in Grijalva and Be- 
zerra expedition, 7; barrenness of, 8 
et seq.; expeditions for purposes of 
discovery or exploration by Cortes, 
Cabrillo, Iturbi, Ulloa, Vizcaino, 7 et 
seq.; attempted settlements at and 
voyages to by Atondo, Carboneli, 
Casanate, Itamarra, Lucenilla, Ortega, 
Pinadero, and Vizcaino, 9 et seq.; 
belief of riches in gold and pearls in, 
11 ; expeditions to, not principally to 
acquire wealth, but to convert the 
Indians, 11; barrenness of, repulses 
attempts at settlement, 12 et passim; 
spiritual conquest of, undertaken by 
the Jesuits, 13; Kino the presiding ge¬ 
nius of the plan, 12 et seq.; Salvatierra 
arrives in, and takes possession of the 
country, 16; the Indians as found by 
the padres, their tribes, and where 
located, their languages, etc., 17 et 
seq.; physical features of the country, 
22 et passim; water scarce, no trees 
of any magnitude, harmful heavy 
rains, 22; shores of, abound in great 
variety of fish, 23; pearls attract ad¬ 
venturers, 23; Salvatierra’s methods 
with the Indians, who unsuccessfully 
attack camp, 27; Padre Piccolo in, 28; 
number of settlers in, 30; progress of 
the Jesuits in, 30 et seq.; Padre Juan 
Ugarte arrives in, and plans to make 
missions self-supporting, 31 et seq.; 
cattle-raising, agriculture, wine-mak¬ 
ing, woolen manufactures, 35, 36; 
Indian uprisings, 37 et passim; Salva¬ 
tierra’s report of progress, 39; Padre 
Pedro Ugarte and his energetic ways 
with the Indians, 39; diseases among 


INDEX 


357 


Indians and soldiers,42; death of Kino, 
42; Salvatierra establishes new and 
permanent system of government for 
country, 46; visited by destructive 
hurricane and rains, accounting for 
rocky surface of country, 47; ship 
built at Mulege, 47; Padres Helen 
and Guillen in, 48; Padre Luyando 
arrives, and with Sistiaga prosecutes 
work among the Indians and in agri¬ 
culture, 49, 50; Padres Carranca and 
Tamaral murdered, 50; official list of 
fourteen reoccupied missions in, in 
1745, after destructive Indian uprising, 
54; the Jesuits, expelled in 1767, are 
superseded by the Franciscans, and 
these by the Dominicans, 55; state¬ 
ment of Laperouse, in 1786, as to 
number of missions, soldiers, and In¬ 
dians, 55; Humboldt’s estimated pop- 
lation of 9,000 considered too low, 
62; Indian population diminishing, 62; 
condition of missions and Indians, 62; 
Loreto, the capital, population 300, and 
La Paz, with San Antonio, population 
2,000, mixed, 62; harbor of Pichilin- 
gue renders La Paz a place of impor¬ 
tance, 62; resources of country fall 
below intrinsic value on account of its 
bad reputation, arisingfrom its indomi¬ 
table barrenness, 63; missions retard 
progress, 63; mining for gold and sil¬ 
ver near San Antonio unimportant, 
63; sheltered valleys produce corn, 
grapes, dates, figs, quinces, peaches, 
pears, olives, 63; wine and dried 
fruit, and spirits distilled from mescal, 
exported, with hides and dried beef, 
cheese, soap, pearls, tortoise-shell, 
63; imports of provisions and cloth¬ 
ing, agricultural implements and do¬ 
mestic utensils, supplies for religious 
ceremonies, and a few luxuries, 63; 
Padre Consag’s voyage of discovery, 
66 ; account of the pearl-fishers and 
pearl-fisheries, and laws governing 
them, 64-75. See also California; 
Californias, The; California, Upper; 
Hall, Captain John; Hall, Lieutenant; 
Hardy, Capt. R. W. H. 


California, Gulf of, a boundary of The 
Californias, 1; called also the Sea of 
Cortes, the Red Sea, or El Mar Rojo, 
8 ; expeditions to, to exploit wealth in 
gold and pearls, and to convert the 
Indians, 11 et passim. 

Californias, The, part of Mexican re¬ 
public, and formerly of New Spain 
(=Nueva Espana), 1; boundaries of, 
1 ,2; a “ territory” under Mexico, 2; 
natural differences between the two 
divisions of, 2; civil history different, 
2 ; two distinct countries, 2; the two 
divisions named, respectively, “New” 
( = Nueva, Sp.) and “Old” (=An- 
tigua, Sp.), or “Upper” (=Alta, 
Sp.) and “Lower” (=Baja, Sp.), 
2 , 3; when spoken of conjointly, des¬ 
ignated “The Californias,” 3; that 
California not an island nor an archi¬ 
pelago, believed to have been estab¬ 
lished by Cortes, 8; but Kino (45) 
and Juan Ugarte (48) establish fact; 
settlements attempted, 9, 11, 12; 
Drake visits northern coast of, and 
names country New Albion, 10; fer- 
^ tility of, recognized by Vizcaino and 
Drake, 10; display of pearls by ex¬ 
plorers excites desire for conquest of, 
11 ; spiritual conquest of, undertaken 
by the Jesuits, 13. 

California, Upper, Russians in, 1; Cabri- 
llo first on coast of, in 1542,79; Drake 
on coast, in 1579, 79; Gali on coast, 
in 1584,79; Vizcaino on coast,in 1603, 
79; Beechey, Langsdorff, Laperouse, 
and Vancouver visit, 80; Marques de 
Croix plans to settle and civilize, by 
“spiritual conquest,” 80; Serra,with 
Franciscan friars, leaves convent of 
San Fernando, in Mexico, in 1768, to 
undertake the “conquest,” 80, 81; 
Galvez, at La Paz, plans a sea and a 
land expedition, 82; the San Carlos 
sails from La Paz, the San Antonio 
from San Lucas, the San Jose from 
Loreto, 84; Portola appointed gov¬ 
ernor of California, and commands 
land expedition, 85; first division of 
land expedition, under Rivera y Mon- 


358 


INDEX 


cada, arrives at San Diego and finds the 
San Carlos and San Antonio, the San 
Jose being lost, 86; the second land 
division, under Portola, with Serra, 
arrives later, 89; Portola leaves forport 
of Monterey, which is passed without 
identification, but port of San Francisco 
discovered, and party returns to San 
Diego, 92-94; mission of San Diego 
founded, 94; Indian uprising, 95; the 
San Antonio, with supplies, failing to 
arrive, preparations are made to aban¬ 
don the country, 100; prayer answered, 
supposed miraculous appearance of 
the vessel, which disappears, and ar¬ 
rives four days later, 100; two expe¬ 
ditions reach the port of Monterey, 
Serra by land and Portola by sea, 101; 
mission of San Carlos founded, 104; 
more Franciscan missionaries arrive, 
after many hardships, 105-107; found¬ 
ing of mission of San Antonio, 107; 
of San Gabriel, 108; Serra leaves for 
Mexico, 112; founding of mission of 
San Luis Obispo, 113; Viceroy Buca- 
reli aids Serra in mission plans, and 
orders dispatch of sea and land expedi¬ 
tions, 113, 114; disastrous voyage of 
the San Carlos from San Bias, by which 
the missions are nearly starved, 113; 
Anza sets out from Tubac to estab¬ 
lish overland route from Sonora, 114; 
new frigate Santiago and the San An¬ 
tonio, with supplies, reach Montery, 
after fatalities on way from San Bias, 
Serra leaving the frigate at San Diego 
and proceeding overland, 114; Anza 
meets Serra, 115; the Santiago leaves 
Monterey on voyage of discovery, 
and returns after accomplishing little, 
making a second voyage, this time 
from San Bias, with a schooner (the 
Sonora), and returns to Monterey, the 
crew ill with scurvy, 115, 116; Buca- 
reli sends out a third expedition (the 
frigate Princesaand the Favorita), said 
to be to discover a passage to North 
Atlantic, ‘ ‘ Strait of Bucareli ’ ’ named, 
new port found and named “Santiago, ’ ’ 
and expedition stood for port of San 


Francisco, dreading, in August, the 
equinox, 117; mission progress, 119; 
Indian uprising at San Diego, 119 et 
seq.; founding of mission of San Juan 
Capistrano, 126; Serra, at Monterey, 
prepares to establish mission of San 
Francisco, 126; founding of the pre¬ 
sidio and mission of San Francisco in 
1776, 127, 128; death of Serra, 129; 
management of the Pious Fund, 132; 
powers and duties of Spanish military 
comandante, 133; as a territory under 
Mexico, 133; representation in legisla¬ 
ture, 134; absurd laws, and rapacity of 
government, 135; some semblance of 
a local government, 135; changes in 
Mexican government, resulting in new 
laws for the missions, 135; Beechey’s 
account of such changes, and their 
results, 135; old customs swept away, 
and misuse of the Pious Fund, 137; 
Figueroa appointed military coman¬ 
dante, and meets disaster on way to 
Monterey, 139; CompamaCosmopol- 
itana, and its ill-advised attempt at 
colonization from Mexico, 142, 143; 
colonists, not permitted to settle on 
mission lands, retire to spot on Bay of 
San Francisco, and are at length ban¬ 
ished on account of their views, 145; 
country open to anyforeign power, 147; 
revolution at Monterey in 1835, ex¬ 
pulsion of Mexican officials and troops, 
resolutions passed as basis for provis¬ 
ional government, and Vallejo called 
upon to act as comandante general, 
149, 150; impotent fulminations of 
Mexican government, 150; suggestion 
that Mexico transfer sovereignty of 
country to English creditors in can¬ 
cellation of indebtedness, and that a 
company be formed by them such as 
the East India Company, 152, 153; 
topography, generally, 154-179; ac¬ 
count of the country and its inhabi¬ 
tants, from MS. records of travels of 
Padres Garces, Dominguez, and Velez 
to Upper California, 157; climate, 163, 
169, 311, 331; rivers, 165, 166; bays, 
166 et seq.; beauty and fertility, 169 


INDEX 


359 


et seq.; trees, shrubs, fruits, and vege¬ 
tables, 170 et seq.; grape-vine, wine 
and brandy, olive-oil, 173; building- 
stone, etc., 173; wild and domestic 
animals, wild-fowl, song-birds, sea and 
shell fish, 174-179; Indians of, physi¬ 
cal and moral characteristics, manners 
and customs, 180-198; life in, manage¬ 
ment and government, etc., of the 
missions, presidios, pueblos or towns, 
199-245; agriculture, live-stock, pro¬ 
duce, dairying, milling, etc., peculiar 
and ancient Spanish methods in use, 
246-280; no foreign commerce in, 
under Spanish rule, 281; considered 
a colony by Mexico, and little com¬ 
merce between, 281; foreign mer¬ 
chants, after Mexican revolution, be¬ 
gin trade with, and send vessels, 282; 
American vessels in Pacific trade re¬ 
sort to, principally for hides and tallow, 
and carry cattle to Hawaiian Islands, 
282, 283; former export of fur-skins 
dwindled from neglect, 284; imports 
of cloth, clothing, furniture, agricul¬ 
tural implements, etc., 284; no coin 
in circulation, trade in barter, heavy 
duties, large profits, 285 ; hindrances 
to commerce, 288 et passim; back¬ 
ward state of navigation, restrictive 
laws on trade and shipping, and some 
remarkable voyages, 289 et seq.; as a 
field for foreign colonization, 309 et 
seq.; situation of, favorable for com¬ 
merce, 312; potentialities of, when 
railroad built or canal cut across the 
Isthmus of Panama and steam-com¬ 
munication established, 315 et seq. 

Californians (i. e., those of Spanish ori¬ 
gin ), indolent and unenterprising, 155; 
compared with American adventur¬ 
ers, 155; as possible occupiers of mis¬ 
sion lands on expulsion of the mission¬ 
aries, 209; fine physique of, 210; pas¬ 
toral state congenial to their situation 
and disposition, 265; peculiar ideas of, 
as to butter and cheese making, and 
management of cattle, 266-271; the 
rodeo a holiday and time of amuse¬ 
ment of, 273; noted for peaceable and 


inoffensive character, 322; intermar¬ 
riages with foreigners, 322. 

Cambon, Pedro Benito, O. F., at found¬ 
ing of San Gabriel, 109. 

Carboneli, Estevan, pilot of Ortega, 12. 

Carranca, Lorenzo, S. J., murdered by 
Indians at San Jose del Cabo, 53, 54. 

Casanate, Pedro Portel de (or Porter y), 
attempted settlement of Lower Cali¬ 
fornia by, 12. 

Castillos, or forts. See Presidios. 

Catalonian volunteers, company of, on 
San Carlos, with Vila, 84. 

Cattle, domestic (black cattle, horses, 
mules, asses, sheep, goats, swine), 
number of, at missions, 265, 266; 
herds of European, displace deer, 175; 
peculiar management of, by Califor¬ 
nians, 271 et seq.; marketing of, 271, 
272; average price of, 280. See also 
Beechey, Bodega, Langsdorff, Rus¬ 
sians. 

Chacuaco (a stone tube used by Indian 
priest or sorcerer), 20. 

Charles V, Cortes sends pearls to, 64. 

Cheese. See Butter and cheese; Daily. 

Chocolate, considered indispensable by 
Spanish Mexicans, 115. 

Cieneguilla, Padre Link at, on his way to 
the Rio Colorado, 88. 

Cimarron, or wild tobacco, used by In¬ 
dian sorcerers, 20. 

Colonization, Serra’s policy of, carried 
out, after his death, by his successors, 
131; attempt by Mexicans to colonize 
mission lands, 142 et seq.; Mexicans 
suspicious of foreign immigrants, 148; 
inaptitude of Spaniards for coloniza¬ 
tion, 209; strangers well received by 
Hispano-Californians, 322. See also 
California, Lower; Compania Cosmo- 
politana, San Francisco, Soldiers. 

Colorado River. See Rio Colorado. 

Commerce, not much foreign, in Cali¬ 
fornia, during Spanish rule, 281; after 
revolution, foreign merchants of Chile 
and Peru turn to, 282; and ships of 
American merchants resort to, from 
South America, Hawaiian Islands, and 
China, 282; exports of hides and tal- 


360 


INDEX 


low, wheat, wines, raisins, and olives, 
282; value of exports, 283; fur trade 
dwindled from neglect, 284; internal 
commerce insignificant, 285; barter 
universal, 285; first adventurous trad¬ 
ers benefit from lack of circulating 
medium, 285 ; customs duties, and 
“never-ending alcabala,’’ 285, 289; 
padres barter cattle for miscellaneous 
imports, 285; oppressive restrictions 
of Spaniards upon foreign and coasting 
trade, 289; and of Mexicans, after 
revolution, 296 et seq.; smuggling, 
insignificant revenues, and dwindling 
trade, 298. See also Hudson’s Bay 
Company, Langsdorff, Laperouse, 
Missionaries, Monterey, Russians, 
San Bias. 

Compania Cosmopolitana, formed to 
exploit and colonize mission lands, 
142, 143; plan frustrated by Santa 
Anna, and settlers expelled from San 
Francisco Bay lands, 144, 145. 

Co?npamas de cueras (cuera — a leather 
jacket), 205. 

Consag, Fernando, S. J., voyage of, in 
1746, to survey coast, 66. 

Cook, Captain James, on Northwest 
coast in 1778, 79. 

Cortes, Hernando, fits out Bezerra- 
Grijalva squadron in 1534, 7; heads 
new expedition in 1535, and is believed 
to have ascertained that California is 
neither an island nor an archipelago, 8; 
sends out further expeditions, 8; his 
example stimulates further efforts, 13. 

Costanso, Miguel, engineer, on Monte¬ 
rey land expedition with Portola, 93. 

Crespi, Juan, O.F., joins Rivera atVeli- 
cata, 86; at San Diego, 89; leaves with 
Portola land expedition for Monterey, 
92. 

Croix, Carlos Francisco de (Marques de 
Croix), Viceroy of Mexico, plans to 
settle and civilize Upper California by 
“spiritual conquest,’’ 80. 

Customs duties, Mexican, 146,285; Span¬ 
ish, 289; criticism of Mexican system, 
302-306. See also Alcabala, Echean- 
dia, Revenue. 


Dairy, management of, unknown in Cali¬ 
fornia, 266. See also Bodega, Butter 
and cheese, Russians. 

Diseases and disorders, Indian sorcerers’ 
methods of curing, 20; immunity of 
Indians from, in their wild state, 42; 
smallpox and fevers break out among 
Indians and soldiers, 42. 

Diving-bell, for pearl-fishing, 74, 75. 

Dominguez, Father Francisco Atanacio, 
MS. account of journey of, with Father 
Silvestre Velez de Escalante, in 1776, 
from Santa Fe toward Monterey, 158- 
162. 

Dominicans, in Lower California, after 
expulsion of Jesuits, 55. 

Drake, Sir Francis, visits coast of Cali¬ 
fornia in 1579, 10, 79; in old harbor of 
San Francisco, and explores interior, 
10; names country New Albion, 10, 
79; not aware of previous visits of 
Spaniards, 10; experiences with the 
Indians, 11. 

East India Company, formation of 
similar company suggested, should 
California be ceded in cancellation of 
debt to English, 153. 

Echeandia, Jose Maria, comandante gen¬ 
eral, appoints collector and comptroller 
of customs to reside at San Diego, with 
subordinates at Monterey, 302. 

Faces, Pedro, lieutenant of Catalonian 
company, leaves San Diego for Monte¬ 
rey with Portola, 92. 

Farias, Gomez. See Gomez Farias. 

Faunae (includes land and amphibious 
animals, and those of sea and shore, 
and the feathered tribes of land and 
water), 91, 163, 174-179. See also 
Beechey, Indians, Langsdorff, Lape¬ 
rouse. 

Favorita, The. See Bucareli, Princesa. 

Figueroa, Jose, Mexican governor of 
California, on voyage from Acapulco 
to Monterey, escapes from mutinous 
soldiers, 139. 

Fish, shores of California abound in, 23, 
163, 179, 329. See also Beechey. 


INDEX 


361 


Flax, soil and climate of California con¬ 
genial to, 263. 

Flour-mills, of primitive construction, 
described, 261. 

Font, Pedro, O.F., missing map of, 159. 

Foods and foodstuffs. See Amole, 
Frijol, Pozole, and also under specific 
names of foodstuffs. 

Forester, The, British brig, meets dis¬ 
abled Japanese junk off Northwest 
coast, 299. See also Japanese junks. 

Forts, or Castillos. See Presidios. 

Franciscans, in Lower California, 55; 
leave convent of San Fernando to re¬ 
place the Jesuits in Lower California, 
and to undertake the “spiritual con¬ 
quest” of Upper California, 81, 82, 
105,106; reinforcement from convent 
of Zacatecas, their character, and their 
experiences on voyage, 138-142. See 
also Missionaries, Serra, etc. 

Frijol, or small bean, universally eaten 
in Spanish America, how cooked, 247. 
See also Grain. 

Fruits and fruit-trees, apple, 171, 329; 
banana, cocoanut, 171; fig, 51,63,171; 
peach, 63, 171; pear, 63,-171, 329; 
orange, plantain, 171; plum, 171, 329; 
pomegranate, 171; quince, 63; straw¬ 
berry, 18s; sugar-cane, 51, 171. 

Fur-bearing animals, 163, 176, 284. See 
also California, Upper; Commerce, 
Langsdorff, Laperouse. 

Fuster, Vicente, O.F., wounded in In¬ 
dian uprising at San Diego, 122, 124. 

Gali, Francisco, visits coast of Upper 
California in 1584, 79. 

Galvez, Jose (Marques de Sonora), 
visitador-general, arrives at La Paz, 
and plans for expeditions by land and 
sea, and for establishment of mis¬ 
sions, 82, 83. See also Portola, Ri¬ 
vera, Serra; San Antonio, The; San 
Carlos, The; San Jose, The. 

Garces, Francisco, O.F., journey from 
Sonora to Upper California in 1775, 
157-162. 

Gente de razon (rational or reasoning 
beings),185,216,217. See also Bestias. 


Gila River, 44, 159. See also Anza, Rio 
Colorado. 

Goat. SeeBerendo; Cattle, Domestic. 

Gold, belief of riches in, in California, 
11 ; mines of little value exist, 63. 

Gomez Farias, Valentin, Vice-President 
of Mexico, overruled by Santa Anna 
in colonization scheme of Compania 
Cosmopolitana, 144. 

Gomez, Francisco, O.F., sails on San 
Antonio with Perez, 84; at San Diego, 
89; leaves with Portola for Monte¬ 
rey, 92. 

Grain (wheat, maize or Indian corn, 
frijoles or small beans, barley, beans 
and garbanzos and pease), quantity 
raised at missions, etc., and value 
thereof, in 1831, 259, 261. See also 
Agriculture, etc. 

Grape, indigenous variety, 91,172; prop¬ 
agation discouraged by Spanish gov¬ 
ernment, 277; 329, 330. See also 
Vitis uinifera. Wine and brandy. 

Great Britain, fears of, of Russian en¬ 
croachment in California, 151; propo¬ 
sition of cession of California to cred¬ 
itors in, in cancellation of debt, 152. 
See Bodega, East India Company. 

Grijalva, Hernando, in expedition sent 
out by Cortes, 7. See also Bezerra. 

Guatemala, 7, 8. 

Guaymas, port of outfit for pearl-fishers, 
68 , 72; first sailing vessel at, 295. 

Guillen, Clemente, S. J., founder of 
Dolores del Sur, 48. 

Hall, Captain John, his account of the 
pearl-fisheries, 71; his report on the 
harbors of California, 327 et seq. 

Harbors of Upper California. See Bo¬ 
dega, Monterey, San Diego, San 
Francisco, San Juan, San Pedro, Santa 
Barbara. 

Hardy, Captain R. W. H., his report as 
to pearl-fishing, 71, 72, 73. 

Hardy, Lieutenant, director of pearl¬ 
fishing company, 74. 

Hawaiian Islands, cattle exported from 
California to, 283. See also Com¬ 
merce. 


362 


INDEX 


Heceta, Bruno, commands Santiago on 
second voyage, 116. 

Hechiceros (Indian sorcerers), their 
methods of treating diseases, 19, 20. 

Helen, Everardo, S.J., founds the mis¬ 
sion of Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, 
47, 48; introduced grain at San Igna¬ 
cio, 50. 

Hemp, successfully grown, 263. 

Horses, raising of, at missions, 35. See 
also Cattle, Domestic ; Langsdorff. 

Hudson’s Bay Company, wheat and pro¬ 
visions sent to, at Columbia River, 284. 

Humboldt, F. H. A. von, cited passim; 
his estimate of population of Califor¬ 
nia, 62; compares New with Old 
California, 171; population of mis¬ 
sions, as given in his Essay on New 
Spain, 201. 

Indian corn. See Grain, Maize. 

Indians, their rudeness, poverty, and nu¬ 
dity, 9; their pottery, 9; peaceable at 
La Paz, but less so northward, 9; found 
mild and friendly by Drake, 11; head¬ 
dress, 11; Spanish monarchs and reli¬ 
gious orders desirous of their conver¬ 
sion, 11 et seq.; feeble and weak- 
hearted, revengeful, easily kept in awe, 
17; kidnaped to act as pearl-divers, 
18; huts of boughs covered with reeds, 
men nude except for head-ornaments, 
women wear reed girdles, live by hunt¬ 
ing and fishing and on spontaneous 
produce of the soil, no arts but those 
in making nets or bows and arrows or 
in the making of their clothing and 
ornaments, 18; some vessels of clay, 
but chiefly of reed, and rafts also of 
reed (tule), 19; no fixed form of gov¬ 
ernment or religion, but submission 
made, on occasion, to rule of one or 
more, 19; sorcerers (hechiceros) pre¬ 
tended to preternatural powers, and 
practiced the art of healing, 19; tribes 
numerous, more or less stationary, 
differ but little in habits, have fixed 
names, speak different languages or 
different dialects, and indulge in petty 
feuds, 21, 22; their innate sloth, 33; 


hechiceros incite to rebellion against 
missionaries upon breaking out of dis¬ 
ease, 42; elders of tribes slow to em¬ 
brace new faith, are placed on level 
with children by the missionaries, 52; 
slaves both in body and mind at the 
missions, 62; their implicit trust in the 
padres, 66; in primitive state, subsist 
on seeds and fish, go far out to sea to 
fish in tule rafts, 91; are very civil, and 
treat the incoming missionaries with 
confidence, 91; all the males go naked, 
all the females decently covered, 91; 
demoralization follows liberation from 
missions of those supposed, to be ca¬ 
pable of self-support, 135, 136; erro¬ 
neous supposition of ferocity of those 
in wild state on the Rio Colorado, as 
none are very formidable, 155; those 
on the Gila and Colorado in very low 
state, but cultivate corn and wheat and 
have cattle, while those farther west 
are entirely naked and live on roots 
and seeds, 159 et seq.; differences exist 
between those of the two Californias, 
and from one another in both, 180; early 
visitors differ as to physical character¬ 
istics of, 180,181; tattooing, their dress 
or nudity, ornaments, customs, im¬ 
plements of the chase and for fishing, 
rafts or balsas for transportation by 
water, food, cooking, family life, mar¬ 
riages, polygyny etc., affections, burial 
rites, wars, their notion of a future 
state, temescal or hot-air bath, dis¬ 
eases and their treatment, difference 
between those wild and those domes¬ 
ticated and those living near the mis¬ 
sions, 180-198; conflict of authorities 
as to religious ideas or superstitions 
of, 194; dead are burned with cere¬ 
monies at San Francisco, more to the 
south they are always buried, and near 
Santa Barbara there were inclosed 
cemeteries, 195; parts of a chief or 
brave man killed in battle are eaten, 
and eyes plucked out and preserved 
as signs of victory, 195. See also 
Beechey, Langsdorff, Laperouse, Pa- 
lou, Rollin, etc. 


INDEX 


363 


Indians, tribes or divisions of,— 
Alchedoma, 162,181 Monqui, 21 
Cajuenche, 162 Papago, 162 
Cochimi, 21,49,50 Pericu, 21 
Cocomaricopas, 162 Pima, 162 


Cocopa, 162 
Edu, 21 
Laymon, 21 
Mohave, 162 
Irrigation, 33, 58; 


Tallignamay,162 
Tamasabs, 162 
Tularenos, 181 
Yuma, 162 
unnecessary around 
Bay of San Francisco, but otherwise in 
southern part of California, 164, 257. 

Itamarra, Francisco, his fruitless attempt 
in 1694 to civilize Lower California, 13. 

Iturbi (or Yturbi), Juan, expedition to 
Gulf of California, 11; finds pearls, 65. 


Japanese junks, disabled, found, with 
survivors,— one off Northwest coast, 
299; and one off Oahu, 301. See also 
Asia. 

Jayme, Luis, O.F., killed in Indian up¬ 
rising at San Diego, 122. 

Jennings,„ John, commander of British 
brig Forester, 299. See also Japanese 
junks. 

Jesuits, undertake spiritual conquest of 
Lower California, 13; their labors af¬ 
ter reaching Loreto, 16 et seq.; have 
law enacted to protect Indians from 
pearl-fishers, 24, 67; tribute to their 
self-sacrifice and devotion, 25, 26; 
means employed by them to accom¬ 
plish their ends questioned, 26; their 
efforts to gain the good-will of the 
Indians, 27; progress in founding 
towns and in conversions, 30; general 
mode of proceeding in establishing 
settlements,49; restrain converts after 
victory over wild attacking Indians, 
53; missions established by them in 
Lower California, 54, 55; superseded 
by Franciscans upon their expulsion 
from the Spanish dominions, 5 5,80,81; 
regard of the Indians for, 67. 


Kino ( Kuhn) , Eusebio F ran cisco, S. J., 
accompanies Atondo to Lower Cali¬ 
fornia, 12; originator and presiding 
genius of plan of spiritual conquest of 


California, 14; remains in Sinaloa, 15; 
his character etc., 15, 42; his death, 
42; tribute of Venegas to, 43, 44; es¬ 
tablishes fact that California is a part 
of the mainland, 45; his travels to the 
Gila and the Colorado and on the 
peninsula, 44, 45. 

Langsdorff, George Heinrich von, in 
California in 1805, 80; cited as to wild 
horses and cattle, beasts of prey, and 
game generally, 174; fur-bearing ani¬ 
mals, 176; his description of the In¬ 
dians, their feather ornaments, their 
skill as hunters, 181, 183, 193. 

La Paz (bay and town),point of discov¬ 
ery of Lower California by Ximenez in 
1534, and named Santa Cruz, 7; Cortes 
at, in 1535, 8; Vizcaino at, in 1596,and 
renames place, 9; Pericu Indians oc¬ 
cupy country south of bay, 21; mis¬ 
sion of La Paz founded near, 47; popu¬ 
lation of town, 62; gold and silver 
mines near, 62; Galvez at, 82; the San 
Carlos sails from, on expedition for 
establishment of missions, 83, 84. 

Laperouse, Jean Frangois Galaup, visits 
California in 1786, 80; his Voyage 
cited passim; Franciscans and Domin¬ 
icans in Lower California, 55; climate 
of California, 163, 171; describes the 
Indians as small and weak, 181; their 
stealth in pursuit of deer, 193; asserts 
that they have no notion of a god or 
a future state, 194; their practice of 
eating parts of a brave enemy killed 
in battle, scalping, plucking out and 
preserving their eyes, 196; the teme- 
scal and its use described, 197; num¬ 
ber of missions and their Indians in 
1786, 200; influence of pictures in the 
mission churches, 213; Indian life at 
the missions resembles slavery, 220; 
Indian games and gambling, 223; re¬ 
port of trade in otter-skins in 1786, 
284. 

Lasso, method of using, and skill of the 
Californian in its use, 273 et seq. 

Link, Wenceslaus, S.J.,his route to the 
Rio Colorado, 88. 


364 


INDEX 


Loreto, its garrison, 55; the capital of 
Lower California, 62; pearl-fishery at, 
71. See also Franciscans, Jesuits, 
San Carlos, Serra. 

Los Angeles. See Nuestra Senora de 
los Angeles. 

Lucenilla y Torres, Francisco, his un¬ 
successful attempt at colonization in 
Lower California in 1668, 12. 

Luyando, Juan Bautista, S. J., founder 
of mission of San Ignacio, 49-51. 

Maize (Indian corn), the staple bread 
cereal of the Californians, 247; mode 
of cultivation, harvesting, etc., 247, 
253 etseq.; the injurious insect gorgo- 
jo, 255. See also Agriculture, Grain. 

Mazatlan, exports from Lower California 
shipped to port of, 63. 

Mendoza. See Bezerra y Mendoza. 

Mescal, spirits distilled from, 63. 

Mexico, extent of territory in Californias 
claimed by, 1; religious orders in, de¬ 
sirous of conversion of Indians in Cali¬ 
fornia, 11; Viceroy and Council of, 
consider secular attempts at settle¬ 
ment of Lower California failure, and 
decide to leave reduction of peninsula 
to Jesuits, 13; debt of, to England, 
152; not much commerce between 
California and, 281; jealous of foreign 
ship-owners, and places restrictions 
upon them, 296 et seq. See also 
Great Britain, Russia, Texas. 

Minerals, none of importance found, 173. 
See also Gold, Silver. 

Minutili, Geronimo, S.J.,at San Fran¬ 
cisco Xavier, 38. 

Mision de laPurisimaConcepcion,found¬ 
ed 1787, 201. 

Mision Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe, 
founded 1720, 47. See also Helen. 

Mision Nuestra Sefiora de la Soledad 
(or Maria Santisima de la Soledad), 
founded 1791, 201. 

Mision Nuestra Senora de Loreto Concho, 
the first mission in Lower California, 
founded 1697, 16;' Indians defeated in 
uprising, 27-28; garrison erects works 
for defense, a chapel, and houses, 29; 


mutiny of garrison and discharge of 
soldiers, 31. See also Loreto, Piccolo, 
Salvatierra; Ugarte, Juan. 

Mision Nuestra Senora de los Dolores 
del Sur, founded 1721, and was valu¬ 
able as an asylum when the other mis¬ 
sions fell from the allegiance of the 
missionaries, 48. See also Guillen. 

Mision Nuestra Senora del Pilar de la 
Paz, founded 1720, 47. 

Mision San Antonio de Padua, founded 
1771, 107; severe frost destroys grain 
at, and supposed miraculous restora- 
of growth by irrigation, 108; 129. 
See also Serra. 

Mision San Buenaventura, founded 1782, 
129. See also Vancouver. 

Mision San Carlos Borromeo de Monte¬ 
rey (or San Carlos del Rio Carmelo), 
founded 1770, on shore of Monterey 
Bay, 104; its removal to the Rio Car¬ 
melo, 105; picture of hell in church of, 
213. See also Serra. 

Mision San Diego de Alcala, the first 
mission in Upper California, founded 
1769, 94; uprising and defeat of Indi¬ 
ans, 95, 96; arrival of overdue San 
Antonio when shortage of provisions 
had almost brought about abandon¬ 
ment, her appearance and disappear¬ 
ance a few days before being regarded 
as a miracle and a presage, 100-101. 
See also San Diego, Serra. 

Mision San Fernando deVelicata,founded 
1769, 87. See also Serra. 

Mision San Fernando Rey de Espana, 
founded 1797, 201. 

Mision San Francisco de Asis (Dolores), 
founded 1776,127-129. See also Serra. 

Mision San Francisco de Borja, founded 
1762, 87. See also Serra. 

Mision San Francisco Solano (Sonoma), 
founded 1823 (hence not in Hum¬ 
boldt’s table on p. 201, ante), 202. 

Mision San Francisco Xavier de Vigge- 
Viaundo, founded 1699, 30, 31, 32; 
uprising of Indians at, 37, 38; 39; hur¬ 
ricane at, washing away the cultivable 
soil, 47. See also Piccolo, Salvatierra; 
Ugarte, Juan. 


INDEX 


365 


Mision San Gabriel Arcangel, founded 
1771, 108 et seq.; uprising of Indians 
subdued by display of image of Nuestra 
Senora de los Dolores, 109 ; Serra 
visits, 113; Garces coldly received at, 
158. See also Cambon, San Pedro, 
Somera. 

Mision San Ignacio de Kadakaman (or 
San Ignacio Loyola), founded 1728, in 
fertile spot, 49; success in conversion 
of Indians and with tropical produce, 
51; wild Indian attack upon, and repri¬ 
sal by garrison and converts, 52. See 
also Luyando, Sistiaga. 

Mision San Jose, founded 1797, 201. 

Mision San Jose de Comondu, founded 
1708, 41. 

Mision San Jose del Cabode San Lucas, 
founded 1730, 53; Indian uprising at, 
53. See also Carranco, Tamaral. 

Mision San Juan Bautista de Ligui (or 
Malibat), founded 1705, 39. See also 
Ugarte, Pedro. 

Mision San Juan Bautista, founded 1797, 

201 . 

Mision San Juan Capistrano, founded 
1776, 126. See also San Juan, Serra. 

Mision San Luis Obispo de Tolosa, 
founded 1772, 113. See also Serra. 

Mision San Miguel Arcangel, founded 
1797, 201. 

Mision San Rafael Arcangel, founded 
1817 (not in Humboldt’s list, p. 201, 
ante). 

Mision Santa Barbara, founded 1786,129. 

Mision SantaClara de Asis, founded 1777, 
129; its Indian village, 211. 

Mision Santa Cruz, founded 1791, 201. 

Mision Santa Ines, founded 1804 (not 
in Humboldt’s list, p. 201, ante). 

Mision Santa Rosa de la Ensenada de 
Palmas, founded 1733, 53. 

Mision Santa Rosalia de Mulege, founded 
1705, 39; hurricane at, washing away 
all the cultivable soil, 47. 

Mision Santiago de los Coras, founded 
1723, 48. 

Mision Santiago del Sur, 55. 

***See pages (not cited) 54-55,201,202, 
259-260,265-266, for lists of missions. 


Missionaries (Franciscans, Jesuits), their 
lenity with rebellious Indians, 28,53; as 
men of affairs, their industry, etc., 33, 
227; their patience with the Indians, 
33, 34; perseverance and methods, 37, 
40, 41, 227; efforts to clothe the In¬ 
dians, 35; manufacture woolens, 36; 
venerated by the Indians, 67,230,231; 
policy to grant no land to colonists, and 
to keep the soldiers celibates, 132, 205, 
209; ordered by Mexico to liberate 
intelligent Indians, and apportion lands 
to them, but disastrous results to the 
Indians follow, 135; salaries reduced, 
but restored later, 135,136; abundance 
at the missions, 138; their settlements 
hardly beyond Bay of San Francisco, 
154; their intention to found missions 
on the plains of theTulares, 163; their 
success in conversions owing to weak¬ 
ness of Indian character, 199; their 
judgment and methods criticised, 226; 
their management of crops, etc., 227; 
their humanity and fidelity, 227; their 
methods compared with Protestant 
endeavor, 2 31-24 5; their slaughter and 
sale of cattle in anticipation of expul¬ 
sion from missions, 283; barter cattle 
for imported necessaries, 285; their 
hospitality and kindness to all visitors, 
322. See also Agriculture, Coloniza¬ 
tion, Mision etc. (for the names etc. 
of the missions), Missions, Presidios, 
Soldiers, etc. 

Missions (life at, management of, etc.), 
how Indians treated, 27, 31 et seq.; 
plan to make them self-supporting, 32; 
their management reduced to a sys¬ 
tem, 56; investment of their funds to 
secure salaries, 56; civil and religious 
economy, 57; subsistence and clothing 
of the Indians, 57, 58; irrigation and 
cultivation of the soil, 58; life at and 
management of, the duties of the pa¬ 
dres, Indian workmen or church offi¬ 
cers and converts, children, soldiers, 
etc., 56-61; wretched condition of the 
Indians, 62; their welfare the main 
object of settlement of country, and 
are almost independent of the Mexican 


366 


INDEX 


government, 133; disastrous results 
follow order to liberate and give land 
to intelligent Indians, 135; padres re¬ 
monstrate, and restorations made, 136; 
frustration of attempt to colonize and 
exploit their lands and property, 142; 
population and names of missions, pre¬ 
sidios, and pueblos, 201, 202; their 
government by the padres, the lands 
allotted to them, their buildings and 
Indian huts, 210 et seq.; their store¬ 
houses, workshops, soldiers’ quarters, 
etc., 212; how sexes kept apart, 212, 
220; construction and contents of their 
churches, 212, 213; how wild Indians 
secured and converted, 216 et seq.; 
religious services, and punishment for 
inattention, 218; daily routine of life, 
industries, etc., 219, 220; separation 
of sexes, and punishment for violation 
of rules, 220; escape of Indians seldom 
successful, and severe punishment pro¬ 
vided, 221; the games takersia and 
tousse, playing-cards, gambling, and 
intoxication, 222,223; ravages of acute 
diseases, 225; grain produced, 259— 
260; domestic cattle, 265-266; ex¬ 
emption from taxation, 302; debt of 
the Mexican government to, for sup¬ 
plies furnished to Mexican officials, 
308; employment of foreign mechan¬ 
ics, 322. See also Beechey, Langs- 
dorff, Laperouse, Vancouver; Agri¬ 
culture, Cattle, Grain, Indians, Mis¬ 
sionaries, Mision etc. (for names of the 
missions), Pious Fund, Presidios, etc. 

Monterey, its harbor discovered by Viz¬ 
caino, 10; failure of Kino to reach, 45; 
Galvez plans to establish mission at, 
83; climate, 164; its bay described, 
166, 329; considered the capital of 
California, 167, 207; its bay the chief 
resort for foreign vessels, 167; sea and 
shell fish found in bay, 179; pirates 
pillage, 204; its presidio, 204; Spanish 
squadron at, 281; English merchants 
seek to trade at, 282; Mexican customs 
station, 302. See also Anza, Domin¬ 
guez, Portola, Serra, Vancouver, etc.; 
Mision San Carlos, etc. 


Moran, Antonio, master weaver, brought 
by Juan Ugarte to instruct Indians, 36. 

Mulege River, Juan Ugarte builds ship 
at, 47. 

Mules. See Cattle. 

Najera, Manuel, prior of Carmelite 
convent at Guadalajara, possessor of 
rare books and MSS., renders valu¬ 
able service to the author, 157. 

Nootka Sound dispute, 281. 

Norfolk Sound, governor of the Russian 
settlement at, sends home Japanese 
survivors found on disabled junk, 300. 

NuestraSehora de los Angeles, pueblo of, 
Rivera at, 85; near Mision San Gabriel 
Arcangel, 207; population, govern¬ 
ment, proposed as capital of California, 
fertility of its soil, its vineyards etc., 
207, 208. 

Olives and olive-oil, 51, 63, 264. 

Ortega, Francisco, makes three voyages 
to Lower California, 12. 

Otondo. See Atondo. 

0<vis pygargus. See Berendo. 

Ox-cart, Californian, described, 251. 

Oxen, Spanish method of yoking by the 
horns, and the Spaniard’s reason for 
doing so, 249-251. 

Pacific Steam Navigation Company, 
332 et seq. 

Palou, Francisco, O.F., author of Life 
of Serra, 80, cited passim; departure 
of the land and the sea expeditions for 
Upper California, 85; ceremony of 
taking possession of the soil, 87; found¬ 
ing of the mission of San Diego, and 
the Indian uprising, 94 et seq.; Serra’s 
chagrin upon failure to baptize infant, 
97; arrival of the San Antonio at San 
Diego when party ready to abandon 
country for lack of supplies, 101; sup¬ 
posed miracle in restoring growth of 
wheat by irrigation, 108; Indian up¬ 
rising, and death of Luis Jayme, 119 et 
seq.; founding of presidio and mission 
of San Francisco, 127; Indian customs 
and physical differences, 182; habits 


INDEX 


367 


of the Indians, their food, scant dress 
of females, nudity of males, marriage, 
polygyny, different languages, but hab¬ 
its and customs the same, 188-191; 
Indians not idolatrous, some pretend 
to supernatural powers, their supersti¬ 
tion as to cause of sickness, their dis¬ 
posal of the dead, 194-195. 

Panama, projects of building a railroad 
across isthmus, and of establishing a 
line of steamers on west coast, also of 
cutting a canal, 315 et seq.; distances 
to Pacific ports from, 334-335. 

Parron, Fernando, O.F., on San Carlos 
with Vila, 84; at San Diego, 89; in 
attack by Indians at San Diego, 95. 

Pasturage, abundant and rich, affords con¬ 
genial employment to Spaniards, 265. 

Pearls, display of valuable, excites desire 
for conquest of California, 11; attract 
adventurers, 23; history of the indus¬ 
try, — how conducted, how regarded 
by the missionaries, the government’s 
share in the output, Indian divers, 
pearl merchants, etc., 64-75. See 
also Jesuits; California, Lower, etc. 

Perez, Juan, commands the San Antonio 
from Cape San Lucas to San Diego, 
84; commands the frigate Santiago on 
her first northern voyage (114), is 
second in command (piloto) on her sec¬ 
ond voyage, and dies at sea, 116, 117. 
See also Bucareli, Heceta, Serra. 

Peyri, Antonio, O. F., his successful 
management of San Luis Rey, and his 
retirement, 228, 229. 

Piccolo, Francisco Maria, S.J., associate 
of Salvatierra, 15; at Loreto with sup¬ 
plies, 28; founds San Francisco Xavier, 
30, 32; his return thereto, 37, 38. 

Pichilingue, harbor, 62. 

Piiiadero, Bernardo Bernal, attempts a 
settlement at Lower California, 12; 
pearls found on his expedition, 65. 

Pious Fund (Fondo Piadoso), donations 
and bequests, houses and land, consoli¬ 
dated for benefit of missions, 131; 
managed by convent of San Fernando, 
132; misapplication of fund, 137. 

Pirates, pillage and burn Monterey, 204. 


Plow, Californian, description and wood- 
cut of, 247, 248. See also Oxen etc. 

Population of missions, presidios, and 
pueblos, 200, 201, 202. 

Portola, Gaspar, governor of California, 
and commander of the land expedi¬ 
tion to march to San Diego, leaves 
Loreto with its second division, 85; 
at Velicata with Serra, 87; arrives at 
San Diego, 89; leaves in command of 
the united divisions for Monterey, and 
passes the harbor without identifying 
it, but reaches the harbor of San Fran¬ 
cisco, and returns to San Diego, 92- 
93; leaves again by land for Monterey, 
while Serra proceeds by sea, and both 
reach the port, 101. 

Potato, thrives well in California, but 
not staple food, 262. 

Pottery, Indian, 9. See also Indians. 

Pozole (cooked corn), 27, 33, 57. 

Prat, Pedro, naval surgeon, on the San 
Carlos with Vila, 84. 

Presidios, or presidencies, number and 
population, 202, 203; their buildings 
inclosed by walls of adobe, 203; ineffi¬ 
ciency of their Castillos, or forts, with 
a few guns of small caliber, 203, 204; 
their compamas de cueras , poorly clad 
horse troops, the refuse of the Mexican 
army, 205; are receptacles for trans¬ 
ported felons, 206, their expense, 307. 
See also Monterey, San Francisco, San 
Diego, Santa Barbara, Soldiers. 

Princesa, The, and the Favorita, sail from 
San Bias, under Arteaga, on voyage of 
discovery, and “Strait of Bucareli” 
and “Santiago” discovered, 117; at 
San Francisco on return, 118, 119; 
Serra goes to San Diego in Princesa, 
126. See also Bucareli. 

Pueblos, or towns, only three in Califor¬ 
nia, independent of the missions and 
presidios, 206; formed for retired sol¬ 
diers, 206; most fertile spots chosen, 
207. See also Branciforte, Nuestra 
Senora de los Angeles, San Jose de 
Guadalupe. 

Rains and fogs, in Upper California, 


368 


INDEX 


164. See also California,Lower; San 
Francisco. 

Raisins, 264. 

Ranchos, or national farms, attached to 
the presidios, for the use of soldiers, 
meant to be also depositories of tithes 
of grain and cattle, 206. 

Revenue, none in California before Mex¬ 
ican revolution, tithes payable by free 
settlers, missions exempt, 302; criti¬ 
cism of Mexican tariff system and fis¬ 
cal management, 302-306; deficit, 307; 
military and civil officials resort to mis¬ 
sions for maintenance, 308. See also 
Customs duties, Monterey, San Diego. 

Revolutions, against Mexico, at Monte¬ 
rey, in 1836,149 etseq.; against Spain, 
in 1821, and its effect on commerce, 
282. 

Rio Colorado, or Red River, a boundary 
of the Californias, 2,154; discolors the 
waters of the gulf, 8; 44; Indians of 
its borders erroneously considered as 
fierce,— numerous, in low state, but 
cultivate grain and have cattle, 155 et 
seq., and are of the same race as those 
at the missions, 185. See also Anza, 
Gila River, Indians etc., Link. 

Rivera y Moncada, Fernando Xavier, 
comandante of the presidio of Loreto, 
leaves Santa Ana in command of first 
division of the Portolaland expedition, 
85; arrives at San Diego, 86; leaves, 
as second in command, withPortola on 
first land expedition to Monterey, 92. 

Rivers of Upper California, derive names 
mostly from missions, 165-166,— 
Jesus Maria San Gabriel 
Los Angeles San Joaquin 
Pajaro San Juan Capistrano 

Rio del Rancho Santa Ana 
Sacramento Santa Clara 
San Buenaventura Santa Cruz 
San Carlos Santa Ines 

Rodeo (the rounding up and branding 
etc. of cattle), a time of amusement 
and festivity in California, 273. 

Rollin, M., surgeon with Laperouse, his 
description of temescal, or hot-air 
bath, 197. 


Russians, their settlement at Bodega, 1; 
suspicions that California might fall 
into their hands, 147; fears of British 
government concerning, 151, 152; 
their hospitality, 271, 327; exports of 
wheat to their settlements on North¬ 
west coast, 282; Mexicans threaten 
to drive them out, 331. 

Salvatierra, Juan MarIa, S.J., directs 
first attempt in execution of plan of 
spiritual conquest of California, 15; 
sails from Yaqui, arrives in Lower 
California, and founds mission of Lo¬ 
reto, 16, 17; learns language of and 
ingratiates himself with the natives, 27; 
his humanity during Indian attack, 28 ; 
by instructing adults, children are hos¬ 
tages, 29; his letter in regard to debts, 
and discharge of refractory soldiers, 31; 
appointed provincial in Mexico, and 
reports conditions to Viceroy, 38, 39; 
visits California, and advises founding 
more missions, 39; resigns as provin¬ 
cial, and again returns to California, 
41; secures the enactment of laws for 
better government, 46; reduces mis¬ 
sion management to a system, 56. 

San Antonio (or Principe), The, under 
Perez, sent by Galvez from Cape San 
Lucas to San Diego, with supplies for 
the new missions, 84; arrives at des¬ 
tination with scurvy on board, 85, 86, 
89; sent to San Bias, and nine die dur¬ 
ing voyage, 92,99; her appearance and 
disappearance off port of San Diego, 
and her arrival four days later, 101; 
leaves San Bias for San Diego, with 
supplies and ten missionaries, and ar¬ 
rives with all on board affected with 
scurvy, 105; arrives at San Diego from 
San Bias, with supplies, after long voy¬ 
age, 114. 

San Antonio, its population, 62; insig¬ 
nificant gold-mines at, 63. 

San Bias, Serra at, 81; 89; the San Anto¬ 
nio arrives at, from San Diego, 92; the 
San Carlos sails from, for Loreto, and 
the San Antonio for San Diego, 105; 
Bucareli dissuaded by Serra from aban- 


INDEX 


369 


cloning marine establishment at, and 
orders frigate (Santiago) built, 113; the 
San Antonio, and the Santiago with 
Serra, sail from, for Monterey, 114; the 
Princesa built at, 117; the Princesa 
and the Favorita sail from, under Ar¬ 
teaga, 117; Franciscan friars at, on way 
to California, 138-142; declares for 
Santa Anna, 142; supplies for missions 
sent from, 281; Spanish squadron at, 
281; exports from California sent to, 
282. See also Figueroa, etc. 

San Buenaventura, plan for mission at, 83. 

San Carlos,The, underVila, with supplies 
for new missions, sails from La Paz for 
San Diego, 83-86, 89; leaves San Bias 
for Loreto with supplies, and has dis¬ 
astrous voyage, 105-107; leaves San 
Diego, with Serra, for San Bias, 113; 
leaves San Bias for Monterey, with 
supplies, is driven up gulf, damaged, 
and reaches Loreto, 113. 

San Diego, port of, 2; its harbor discov¬ 
ered by Vizcaino, 10; plan for mission 
at, 83; its harbor described, 167, 330; 
presidio of, 203; customs collector ap¬ 
pointed for, 302; supplies for shipping, 
and facilities for establishing wharves, 
docks, arsenals, 331. See also Eche- 
andia, Franciscans, Indians, Mision 
San Diego, Missionaries, Missions, 
Portola, Serra; San Antonio, The; 
San Bias; San Carlos, The; San Jose, 
The; etc. 

San Dionisio, Bay of, site of Atondo’s 
camp, and of mission of Loreto, 16. 

San Fernando, Mexico, convent of, fur¬ 
nishes Franciscan missionaries for spir¬ 
itual conquest of California, 80 et pas¬ 
sim. 

San Francisco (port, bay, etc.), the bay 
the northern limit of Spanish settle¬ 
ment, 1,10; Vizcaino at (old harbor), 
in 1603, and Drake in 1579, 10; Por¬ 
tola Monterey land expedition at, in 
1769, 93, 94; the Princesa and the 
Favorita, under Arteaga, arrive at, in 
1779, 118; founding of the presidio 
and mission in 1776, and survey of the 
harbor, finding only one outlet to the 
24 


ocean, 126-128; Indian war at, 128; 
heterogeneous colony from Mexico 
driven away from, 145; most fertile 
lands, and those best fitted for Euro¬ 
pean settlement, around and north of 
the bay, 154, 323; rains are more gen¬ 
eral around bay, and irrigation is un¬ 
necessary, 164,257; mean annual tem¬ 
perature 5 3.2°, 165; rivers flowing into 
bay, 165; port is the largest and safest 
on western coast, and one of the most 
capacious in the world, 166; effect of 
sea-winds and fogs in exposed situa¬ 
tions, 169; Indians of, burn their dead, 
with attendant ceremonies, 195; pre¬ 
sidio of, 203; port, for size and safety, 
hardly surpassed in world, 312; lands 
around bay favorable for raising grain 
and rearing cattle, 323 ; natural advan¬ 
tages for agricultural pursuits, and for 
communication by water, 323; harbor 
described, sailing directions, 327,328; 
secure anchorage, and facilities, for es¬ 
tablishing wharves, docks, arsenals, 
331. See also Mision San Francisco. 

San Jose de Guadalupe (pueblo or town), 
near the mission of Santa Clara, 207; 
its government, inhabitants, etc., 208. 

San Jose, The, sails from Loreto with 
mission supplies, and is lost, 84, 85. 

San Juan, its bay described, 168; sailing 
directions, etc., 330. 

San Juan Londo, site of a mission, 39. 

San Lucas, Cape,l, 20; the San Antonio 
sails from, for San Diego, 84. 

San Luis, Bay of, 86. 

San Pedro, Port, described, 168; anchor¬ 
age etc.,near Mision San Gabriel, 329. 

San Quintin, excellence of port, 330, 331. 

Sandwich Islands, exports to, 283. See 
also Commerce; Japanese junks. 

Santa Ana, 85. See also Rivera. 

Santa Anna, AntonioLopez, 140,144,152. 

Santa Barbara, bay and channel described, 
167; inclosed Indian cemetery at, 195; 
its presidio described, 203; anchorage, 
tides, etc., of harbor, 329. See also 
Mision Santa Barbara. 

Santa Clara. See Mision Santa Clara; 
Vancouver. 


370 


INDEX 


Santa Cruz (island), Upper California, 
167. 

Santa Cruz, Lower California. See La Paz. 

Santa Fe. See Dominguez. 

Santiago (or Nueva Galicia), The, built 
at San Bias, 113; leaves for Monterey 
under Perez, is obliged to put into San 
Diego for repairs, and voyage resumed 
to Monterey later, 114; proceeds on 
northern voyage of discovery, and re¬ 
turns to Monterey, 115, 116; leaves 
San Bias under Heceta and Perez, with 
schooner (Sonora) under Bodega, on 
second voyage of discovery, and re¬ 
turns to Monterey, finding there the 
schooner, previously lost sight of in 
gale, 116, 117. See also Serra. 

Serra, Junipero, O. F., nominated father- 
president to undertake spiritual con¬ 
quest of Upper California, 80,81; leaves 
convent of San Fernando, 81; at Lo¬ 
reto, and approves plan of Galvez, 82; 
at Velicata with Portola, 87; founds 
mission of San Fernando, 87; his letter 
to Palou from San Diego, 89-92; 
founds mission of San Diego, 94; in 
Indian attack at mission, 95; his sor¬ 
row when Indian parents prevent bap¬ 
tism of infant, 98; goes to Monterey 
on the San Antonio, 101; his letter to 
Palou, 102 et seq.; founds mission of 
San Carlos, 104; letter to chief of col¬ 
lege of San Fernando results in more 
missionaries being sent, 105; founds 
mission of San Antonio, 107; letter to 
Palou, 110; resolves to go to Mexico, 
and on way founds San Luis Obispo 
and visits San Gabriel, 112, 113; sails 
on the San Carlos from San Diego, 113; 
his success with Bucareli, 113; leaves 
city of Mexico, and sails on the Santi¬ 
ago from San Bias, leaves her at San 
Diego, meets Anza on way to Monte¬ 
rey, 114,115; goes on the Princesa to 
San Diego after Indian uprising, 125; 
on way to found San Juan Capistrano, 
is saved from death by Indian, 126; 
returns to Monterey, and makes prep¬ 
arations for founding of mission of San 
Francisco, 126; his death (at San Car¬ 


los), 129; sketch of his life by Paloii, 
129; his plan of colonization and man¬ 
agement carried on by his successors, 
131. 

Sheep, raising of, at missions, 35; infe¬ 
rior breed all over Spanish America, 
and breeding of merinos discouraged 
by Spanish government, 277-278. See 
also Cattle. 

Ship-building, first ship built in the Cali- 
fomias (theTriunfo de la Cruz), 47; 
California rich in material for, and for 
marine stores, 147. See also Bucareli, 
Princesa, San Bias, Santiago, Ugarte. 

Silver, said to exist in peninsula, 63. 

Sistiaga, Sebastian, S.J., assists Luyando 
at founding of San Ignacio, 50. 

Soap, 63. See also Amole. 

Soldiers, with Salvatierra, 16; hated by 
Indians, 17; prohibited from diving for 
pearls, 24; padres protect Indians from 
their cruelties, 26, 31; disperse Indian 
attacks on Loreto, 28, 29; mutiny at 
Loreto from want of pay etc., and be¬ 
cause of restraints, and are dismissed, 
30, 31; dismissed from San Francisco 
Xavier for ill conduct, 32; suffer with 
Indians from fevers, 42; included in 
new law for better government, 46; 
only two in band of converts making 
reprisal on wild Indians, 52; paid by 
government, but padres control, except 
in military matters, 56; their duties, 
59, 60; heroism of, at San Diego, 96; 
cannot marry without permission, 132; 
powers and duties of comandante of 
troops, 133; commissioned and non¬ 
commissioned officers sent to repre¬ 
sent California in Mexican legislature, 
134; mutiny of, on way to Monterey 
with Figueroa, 139; compamas de cue- 
ras , 205; those sent to California are 
refuse of Mexican army, deserters, etc., 
205; grants of lands in pueblos to re¬ 
tired, 206; how quartered at missions, 
212; worthless character of, 212; in 
rags, and obtain Subsistence at mis¬ 
sions, 308. See also Presidios. 

Somera, Angel, O.F., at founding of 
mission of San Gabriel, 109. 


INDEX 


371 


Sonora-Monterey route, 157. See also 
Anza, Serra. 

Sonora, schooner, accompanies the San¬ 
tiago on her second northern voyage, 
116; returns to Monterey, 117. See 
also Bodega y Quadra. 

Sorcerers (hechiceros,or Indian priests), 
19; incite Indians to expel mission¬ 
aries, 29; further efforts, on breaking 
out of smallpox etc., 42. 

Southey, Robert, his Tale of Paraguay 
cited, 26, 222, 225, 232. 

Spain, discovery and settlement of Cali¬ 
fornia by, 2; monarchs of, desirous of 
conversion of the Indians, 11; discour¬ 
ages propagation of fine grapes and 
sheep, 277, 278; possessions of, on 
Pacific coast, 286; neglect of and re¬ 
strictions upon commerce and naviga¬ 
tion by, in America, 286 et seq.; fiscal 
laws and practices of, criticised, 304. 

Spanish navigation, deplorable state of, 
on Pacific coast, 84, 119; severe laws 
regarding mariners and navigation, 
customs duties, accounts of unduly 
long voyages, abuse of authority by 
officials, etc., 289 et seq. 

Spirits, distilled, 63. 

Spiritual conquest (conquista espiritual) 
of California, by the Jesuits, how 
financed, 13 et seq.; power delegated 
by government to and assumed by 
padres, 15, 16; undertaken by Fran¬ 
ciscans upon expulsion of Jesuits, 80. 
See also Galvez, Kino, Piccolo, Pious 
Fund, Salvatierra, Serra, Ugarte. 

Steam-navigation, proposed line of steam¬ 
ships for exploitation of Pacific coast 
via Isthmus of Panama, 332 et seq. 

Swine, not much propagated in Califor¬ 
nia, but otherwise in Mexico, 279. See 
also Cattle. 

Takersia, a game played by Indians, 222. 

Tamaral, Nicolas, S.J., murdered by 
Indians at San Jose del Cabo, 53, 54. 

Taraval, Sigisimundo, S.J., his opinion 
as to Indian languages, 21. 

Taye, or argali, 175. See also Berendo. 

Tehuantepec, Cortes equips ships at, 8. 


Temescal, or hot-air bath, 196-197. 

Tepic, Franciscans at, on way to Cali¬ 
fornia, 138. 

Texas, possible settlers from, 152; ces¬ 
sion of lands in, to Great Britain, 153. 

Textile materials. See Flax, Hemp, etc. 

Tiburon, its Indians, pearls, etc., 73. 

Tobacco. See Cimarron. 

Tousse, a game played by Indians, 223. 

Towns, or pueblos. See Branciforte, 
Nuestra Senora de los Angeles, San 
Jose de Guadalupe. 

Trees, shrubs, etc., great number of, but 
few indigenous fruit-bearing trees, 172. 
See also Vancouver. 

Tucson (orTu<;6n; Papago, Tu-uk-so- 
on), 160, 163. 

Tulares (tules), plains of the, 156; Gar- 
ces traverses, 158; intention of the 
Franciscans to found missions on, 163; 
Indians of, 185. 

Tule (or bulrush), Indians construct rafts 
of, 91,189, 191; women wear girdles 
of, 18, 189. 

Ugarte, Juan, S.J., associate in plan of 
spiritual conquest, 15; sends supplies 
and soldiers to Loreto, 29, 30; arrives 
at Loreto, and appointed to San Fran¬ 
cisco Xavier, 31; applies principle of 
making missions self-supporting, 32; 
character of, 31, 32, 36, 37; as over¬ 
seer, carpenter, etc., 33, 36; his treat¬ 
ment of insolent Indian, 34; makes and 
exports wine, 35; his success with 
crops and cattle, and in manufacturing 
woolens, 35-37; builds vessel at Mu- 
leje, 47; sails on voyage of discovery 
in gulf, reaches the Colorado, and con¬ 
firms statements of Kino, 48. 

Ugarte, Pedro, S. J., founds San Juan Bau¬ 
tista de Ligui, 39; his character, 39,40; 
his successful methods with the Indi¬ 
ans, 40, 41. 

Ulloa, Francisco, commands exploring 
expedition in gulf, 9. 

United States, likelihood of invasion of 
California by frontiersmen etc. from, 
151, 152; hunters, traders, trappers, 
etc., from, 155. See also Americans. 


372 


INDEX 


Valdivia, Chile, 286. 

Vallejo, Mariano Guadalupe, appointed 
comandante-general by provisional 
government, at Monterey, in 1836, 
upon declaration of independence of 
Mexican rule, 150. 

Vancouver, George, visits California in 
1792, 80; his journey from Monterey 
to Santa Clara, 169; his description of 
the garden at San Buenaventura mis¬ 
sion, 171; skill and stealth of Indians 
in deer-hunting exhibited to, 193; 
the new missions he finds established 
on his second visit (1793), 200. 

Vegetables, green, 171; not much used, 
263; plentiful at Bodega, 327. 

Velez de Escalante, Father Silvestre. See 
Dominguez. 

Velicata, Rivera at, 86; Crespi at, 86; 
Serra at, and establishes mission of San 
Fernando, 87; Portola at, 87. 

Venegas, Miguel, S.J., his Noticiade la 
California cited passim; valuable pearls, 
11; Atondo’s fruitless and expensive 
expedition, 12; spiritual conquest of 
California, 13; Kino’s vow, 15; Sal- 
vatierra’s arrival in Lower California, 
16; Indian sorcerers, 19-20; pearl- 
fishers etc., 24; tribute to self-denial 
etc. of missionaries, 25; celebration 
after victory over Indians, 28; labors 
of the missionaries, 29-53; religious 
and civil economy of missions, 57 et 
seq.; the Indians, 181-187. 


Vigge Mountains, site of mission, 32. 

Vila, Vicente, commands San Carlos, 84. 

Vitis <vinifera , 173; vine thrives well, 
264. See also Grape. 

Vizcaino, Juan, O.F., 84, 89; in Indian 
attack at San Diego, 95; wounded, 97. 

Vizcaino, Sebastian, his expedition to gulf 
and futile attempt at settlement, 9,10; 
explores west coast, discovers ports of 
San Diego, Monterey, (old) San Fran¬ 
cisco, 10,79; examines port of Mag¬ 
dalena, 10; insufficiency of his descrip¬ 
tion of port of Monterey to satisfy 
Portola of its identity, 93. 

Wheat, how cultivated etc. in Califor¬ 
nia, 246 et seq. See also Flour, Grain. 

Wild-fowl, 163. See also Beechey, La- 
perouse. 

Wine and brandy, 35, 58, 63, 264, 330. 

Wine-grape, 173. See also Grape. 

Wool, inferior quality of, 277. 

Ximenez, Fortuno, piloto of Grijalva, 
de facto discoverer of Lower California 
in 1534, killed at La Paz, 7. 

Yaqui River, Salvatierra sails from, 16; 
pearl-fishers’ port of departure, 72. 

Yturbi. See Iturbi. 

Zacatecas, Franciscan friars from con¬ 
vent of, on way to California, 138-142. 

Zuniga, Gaspar, Viceroy of New Spain, 9. 


THE END 


Printed by Thomas C. Russell, at 1734 Nineteenth Avenue 
San Francisco, California, United States of America 



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